# Fewer cattle expected as cow herds shrink due to drought | The Western Producer

> Drought and high feed and forage costs have pushed Canadian and US beef cow herds to their smallest levels in many years. US beef cows stood at 30.13 million on Jan. 1, down 2.3%, and cow slaughter is running 14.6% higher than last year.

- Date: 2022-07-28 · published 2022-07-28T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: weather · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/40618-fewer-cattle-expected-as-cow-herds-shrink-due-to-drought-the-western-producer
- Commodities: [Live Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/LCATTLE.md), [Feeder Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/FCATTLE.md), [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md)

## Why it matters

A shrinking cow herd and higher cow slaughter point to tighter beef supply, supporting higher feeder and fed cattle prices, though feed costs will determine producer margins.

## Read by commodity

- CORN: bullish ▲
- FCATTLE: bullish ▲
- LCATTLE: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LCATTLE | 2021-11-10 | [The Cycle of Drought, Cowherd Liquidation and Higher Feeder Cattle Prices](https://feedsoft.ai/events/44208-the-cycle-of-drought-cowherd-liquidation-and-higher-feeder-cattle-prices.md) | +0.7% | +6.3% |
| LCATTLE | 2018-02-12 | [Drought relief expected to help grain and cattle outlook - High Plains Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/66423-drought-relief-expected-to-help-grain-and-cattle-outlook-high-plains-journal.md) | +1.5% | -1.0% |
| LCATTLE | 2022-11-02 | [Terrain \| Drought-forced Cattle Movement Expected to Impact Markets into 2023](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7228-terrain-drought-forced-cattle-movement-expected-to-impact-markets-into-2023.md) | +0.4% | +1.7% |
| LCATTLE | 2023-02-03 | [CattleFax Forecasts Producer Profitability in 2023 with Potential Drought Relief for the West](https://feedsoft.ai/events/37485-cattlefax-forecasts-producer-profitability-in-2023-with-potential-drought.md) | +1.3% | +4.1% |
| LCATTLE | 2024-01-01 | [As drought tightened cattle production, 2023 markets soared  - High Plains Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/32247-as-drought-tightened-cattle-production-2023-markets-soared-high-plains-journal.md) | -0.4% | +2.3% |
| FCATTLE | 2021-11-10 | [The Cycle of Drought, Cowherd Liquidation and Higher Feeder Cattle Prices](https://feedsoft.ai/events/44208-the-cycle-of-drought-cowherd-liquidation-and-higher-feeder-cattle-prices.md) | -1.4% | +3.5% |
| FCATTLE | 2022-08-09 | [Coping with high feed prices, drought in 2022
						 \| The Cattle Site](https://feedsoft.ai/events/40182-coping-with-high-feed-prices-drought-in-2022-the-cattle-site.md) | -0.7% | +1.6% |
| FCATTLE | 2022-11-03 | [Rising input costs may overwhelm cattle prices \| The Western Producer](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7224-rising-input-costs-may-overwhelm-cattle-prices-the-western-producer.md) | -0.7% | +1.2% |

## Sources

- producer.com: https://www.producer.com/markets/fewer-cattle-expected-as-cow-herds-shrink-due-to-drought/

---
Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.