Sources: Russell Knight and Hannah Taylor, USDA; ERS
There was no USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) July Cattle report in 2024 providing an estimate of the cattle inventory on July 1. However, the NASS Cattle on Feed report breaks down the number of steers and heifers in feedlots with capacity of 1,000 head or more on July 1. To some degree this can reflect the sentiment of cow-calf producers’ willingness to retain young females for breeding during the first half of the year. From Cattle on Feed, it is estimated that on July 1, 6.824 million steers and 4.480 million heifers were on feed, an increase of 0.8 and 0.1 percent, respectively, from a year ago. Lacking the number of breeding heifers that cow-calf producers are intending to retain this year, the number of heifers on feed suggests that herd expansion could be delayed further as producers appear to be capitalizing on strong calf prices
One contributing factor to the number of heifers in feedlots is the increase in feeder cattle from Mexico. Based on weekly data from the USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service report, U.S. – Mexico Livestock Imports/Exports for January through June, importation of feeder heifers from Mexico increased 91 percent, or 126,210 head, compared to the same period last year. Further, the proportion of heifers imported from Mexico jumped from 23 to 36 percent of total feeder calves from Mexico in the same period last year.
