US cattle herd shrinks still more…
The number of cattle in the United States has plunged to the lowest it’s been since 1951. That’s more than 60 years that the beef supply has been this low.
For cattlemen that have been able to stick it out through high feed and energy costs—and droughts—this is good news in the short run. It means of course that cattle prices will continue to set records. But since that will chase consumers to other choices, it’s not so good.
The only bright spot in the report is the news that farmers are starting to hold onto their heifers….that adds to the short supply but indicates an eventual turn-around.