The U.S. Department of Agriculture released two cattle reports on Friday July 23, confirming trade speculation that the U.S. herd would be the smallest since record-keeping began in 1973.
USDA put the herd at 100.8 million head, down 1.2 per cent from a year ago.
The reports confirmed that the cattle are being moved into feedlots, with an inventory of 10.07 million head as of July 1, up 3.3 per cent from a year earlier and in line with average analyst estimates of a 3.4 per cent increase.
Placements of young cattle were 1.628 million head, up 17 per cent, and sales of mature cattle at 1.997 million, up 0.4 per cent.
One exception in numbers was in the dairy sector, where heifers destined for dairy herds were up nearly 3 per cent from a year ago.
