Tighter supplies to drive 2012 beef pricesTighter supplies to drive 2012 beef prices

John T.
Barone

In its semi-annual report, the Department of Agriculture said total cattle numbers — on and off feedlot — for
July 1 were 100.0 million head, down 1.1 percent from a year ago. In a separate report, the USDA reported feedlot inventories at 10.45 million head, up 3.8 percent from a year ago. New feedlot placements in June were up 4 percent. 


Putting the numbers together shows that drought-induced early placement of feeders has caused feedlot numbers to swell. But those increases have come at the expense of off-feedlot numbers. Some 89 percent of grazing lands in Texas and Oklahoma were rated either poor or very poor in early August, and ranchers are literally out of water. The beef-cow herd is at 31.4 million head, down 1.1 p...