The U.S. beef herd size periodically cycles through expansion and contraction, with about a 10-year cycle. This cycle is largely due to the time it takes to build because of cattle biology. 

The USDA NASS Cattle on Feed report for January was released Jan. 24. My take on the report is that it was reasonably neutral. Placements, marketings and on-feed numbers were all well within pre-report estimate ranges and were, in fact, very close to pre-report averages.

The latest monthly Cattle on Feed report showed the Jan. 1 inventory in feedlots (over 1,000 head) at 11.958 million head, 102.3% of one year ago. This is the largest January on-feed total since 2008.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is proposing to adjust membership on the Beef Promotion and Research Board to reflect shifts in cattle inventory levels since the last board reapportionment in 2017, as required by the rules governing the board.

Last year, the USDA released the 2017 Census of Agriculture. The agriculture census is taken every five years going back to 1840. Many, including me, filled out and returned a 2017 census form, providing information about our farming operations.

On Nov. 21, 2019, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published a study on livestock mandatory reporting (LMR) negotiated slaughter cattle market reporting.

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will mail letters with survey codes this December to more than 22,000 U.S. producers involved in certified or transitioning to certified organic farming for the 2019 Organic Survey.

The USDA has suspended a proposed timeline phasing in Animal Disease Traceability Act (ADT) eartag requirements by 2023.

The latest livestock and meat monthly trade data from the Economic Research Service (ERS) was released on Oct. 7 and included the month of August 2019 as the most recent data available.

The Aug. 9 fire at the Tyson Foods beef processing plant in Holcomb, Kansas, added unwelcome pressure to an already strained balance between processing capacity and fed cattle supply, and sparked unrest in the cattle markets and concern about beef prices.