January cattle report released

The total number of cattle and calves in Illinois on Jan. 1 was 1.07 million head, 3 percent below last year’s total. This is the lowest cattle inventory on record for Illinois. Beef cow inventory was down 6 percent from 2011 to 331,000, while milk cows were up 1 percent to 99,000. This information is based on a recent cattle survey conducted by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Illinois Field Office.

All cattle and calves in the United States as of Jan. 1 totaled 90.8 million head, 2 percent below the 92.7 million on Jan. 1, 2011. This is the lowest Jan. 1 inventory of all cattle and calves since the 88.1 million on hand in 1952. All cows and heifers that have calved, at 39.1 million, were down 2 percent from the 40 million on Jan. 1, 2011. Beef cows, at 29.9 million, were down 3 percent from Jan. 1, 2011. Milk cows, at 9.2 million, were up 1 percent from Jan. 1, 2011.

These are January numbers, but the report was released in early February.