Viewing post #548246 by dave

This didn't surprise me.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s...

The lingering effects of drought across the Great Plains in recent years have led to another decrease in the U.S. cattle herd.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reports that the U.S. inventory of cattle and calves totaled 87.7 million animals as of Jan. 1. That was down by about 1.6 million cattle, or 2 percent, compared with this time last year.

The agency says this is the lowest January inventory since 1951.

I know during the historic drought of 2011 we sent 90% of our cows to slaughter, and most people I know did likewise. Then droughts in other areas of the country came and I figure the people up there did the same thing.

We're more than halfway back to our previous numbers and we keep adding, but animal prices are still through the roof. It's not a good time to buy cattle, but it's a great time to sell and I think that helps motivate people to grow their herds any way they can. The cows at auction around here are going for over $1.50 per hundredweight.