July 25, 2022

US cattle inventory 2% down year-on-year in July

The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) cattle report showed that there were 30.4 million cows in US farms as of July 1, 2022, 2% down compared to July 2021, the USDA reported.

There were 98.8 million head of cattle and calves in the country, and of those, 39.8 million have calved. The US calf crop was estimated at 34.6 million head, 1% lower compared to 2021.

Dairy cattle in the country also dropped to 9.45 million.

In the first half of July, NASS conducted surveys of roughly 15,400 operators across the country to get a precise assessment of the state of the U.S. cattle industry at the time. Producers who were surveyed were asked to provide online, by mail, or over the phone, information about their cattle inventories as of July 1, 2022, and their calf crop for the entire year of 2022.

Visit nass.usda.gov/Publications to access the Cattle report as well as all other NASS reports.

-      US Department of Agriculture