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Cattle Numbers At Lowest in 37 Years

published: July 26th 2010
source: Bloomberg News Service

The U.S. beef-cow herd on July 1 was the smallest in at least 37 years as farmers remained wary of beef demand during the economic recovery after losing money in the past two years.

The beef-breeding herd totaled 31.7 million head as the month began, down 1.6 percent from 32.2 million a year earlier, the Department of Agriculture said Friday. That marked the fewest for the date since at least 1973, said Ron Plain, a livestock economist at the University of Missouri. Six analysts in a Bloomberg News survey expected a 1.4 percent drop, on average.

Cattle producers could make about $51.53 per cow this year, after losses in 2009 and 2008 because of high feed costs and declining beef demand, said Erica Rosa, an economist at the Livestock Marketing Information Center in Denver. Uncertainty about economic recovery may be keeping ranchers from expanding herds, she said.