By Josh Maples
USDA released the July 1 Cattle Inventory and Cattle on Feed reports last week, then announced Friday afternoon a phased reopening of southern ports to live cattle imports from Mexico. Cattle futures prices reacted sharply lower in trading on Monday. Below are overviews of each report and the border reopening.
July 1 Cattle Inventory
All cattle and calves totaled 94.2 million head, slightly above a year ago. Beef cows came in at 28.45 million head, down 1 percent and the smallest July 1 beef cow inventory in a series going back to 1973. The first estimate of the 2026 calf crop came in at 32.5 million head, down 1.5 percent and the smallest since 1941. Calves born in the first half totaled 23.9 million, down about 2 percent. The supply of feeder cattle is still shrinking rather than leveling off.
Source : osu.edu