Year-to-date U.S. cattle imports total 951,910 head, down 6.3% year over year. Total cattle exports thus far in 2022 are 192,415 head, down 36.7% from the record cattle export total last year.
The integration of beef and cattle markets in North America includes trade in live cattle between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. The most recent monthly trade data adds to the picture of cattle flows for the period January-July this year. For the year to date, U.S. cattle imports total 951,910 head, down 6.3% year over year. Total cattle exports thus far in 2022 are 192,415 head, down 36.7% from the record cattle export total last year. Net cattle imports for the January-July period are 759.495 head, up 6.7% year over year.
Cattle imports from Mexico for the year to date are down 30.2% year over year. The seven-month year-to-date total of 488,449 head is the smallest for the period since 2009. Over 99% of cattle imports from Mexico consist of feeder cattle, which includes 84.6% steers and 15.4% heifers thus far in 2022. Cattle exports to Mexico for the year to date include 64,226 head, up 73.7% year over year, of which 79.9% are feeder cattle, with the remainder being purebred beef and dairy animals. Net cattle imports from Mexico are down 36% from last year.
Cattle imports from Canada include both slaughter and feeder cattle. For the January-July period, total cattle imports from Canada are 463,461 head, up 46.7% year over year. This total includes 307,302 head of slaughter cattle consisting of 40.1% slaughter cows/bulls and 59.9% fed steers and heifers. Imports of slaughter cows/bulls are up 13.8% year over year, and imports of fed cattle are up 28.4% over last year. A total of 146,845 head of feeder cattle have been imported from Canada in the first seven months of the year, with heifers making up 78.9% of total feeder imports. Feeder cattle imports are up 152.6% year over year for the January-July period.
U.S. exports of feeder cattle to Canada account for 96.2% of the total 120,594 head of cattle exports to Canada in the January-July period this year. This is down 52.7% from the record level of cattle exports to Canada in 2021. Combined net feeder cattle imports from Mexico and Canada are down 2.7% year over year for the first seven months of 2022.
Although cattle import and export totals sound large in absolute numbers, the role of imported cattle is rather modest in domestic markets. Imports of slaughter cows/bulls for the first seven months of 2022 accounted for 2.8% of total cow and bull slaughter in the U.S. during the period. Imported fed cattle accounted for 1.2% of total steer and heifer slaughter during the same period. Net imports of feeder cattle from Mexico and Canada from January-July represented 1.3% of the estimated feeder supply on July 1.
This article originally appeared in the Sept. 12, 2022, OSU Cow/Calf Corner newsletter.
