# US cattle herd expansion ends | Meat & Livestock Australia

> The USDA January 1 report puts total US cattle at 94.4 million head, down 0.4% year on year, with beef cattle down 1.2%, the first decline since 2014. Cattle on feed reached 14.7 million head, the highest since 2008, and US beef exports are forecast to rise 9% in 2020.

- Date: 2020-02-06 · published 2020-02-06T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: report · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/54548-us-cattle-herd-expansion-ends-meat-and-livestock-australia
- Commodities: [Live Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/LCATTLE.md), [Feeder Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/FCATTLE.md)

## Why it matters

A shrinking herd points to lower beef output later, but record feedlot numbers and rising exports keep near-term supply heavy, with implications for cattle prices and competition with Australian beef.

## Read by commodity

- FCATTLE: neutral
- LCATTLE: neutral

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LCATTLE | 2022-03-11 | [Weekly global protein digest: Australia's beef herd recovering, HPAI, US dairy markets
						 \| The Cattle Site](https://feedsoft.ai/events/42221-weekly-global-protein-digest-australia-s-beef-herd-recovering-hpai-us-dairy.md) | +0.5% | +0.3% |
| LCATTLE | 2020-03-20 | [Market confusion overshadows cattle report \| Livestock \| farmweeknow.com](https://feedsoft.ai/events/54266-market-confusion-overshadows-cattle-report-livestock-farmweeknow-com.md) | +5.8% | -2.0% |
| LCATTLE | 2020-10-02 | [Cattle on Feed report pushes feeders south \| Western Livestock Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/50773-cattle-on-feed-report-pushes-feeders-south-western-livestock-journal.md) | +1.5% | -1.0% |
| LCATTLE | 2023-10-02 | [U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs extend selloff on supply view - Grainews](https://feedsoft.ai/events/33781-u-s-livestock-cme-lean-hogs-extend-selloff-on-supply-view-grainews.md) | -0.6% | +0.3% |
| LCATTLE | 2020-09-28 | [USDA investigation shows cattle markets work](https://feedsoft.ai/events/51240-usda-investigation-shows-cattle-markets-work.md) | +1.0% | -0.1% |
| FCATTLE | 2019-11-04 | [October Cattle on Feed hits expectations \| Western Livestock Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/56209-october-cattle-on-feed-hits-expectations-western-livestock-journal.md) | -1.4% | -4.7% |
| FCATTLE | 2020-03-20 | [Market confusion overshadows cattle report \| Livestock \| farmweeknow.com](https://feedsoft.ai/events/54266-market-confusion-overshadows-cattle-report-livestock-farmweeknow-com.md) | +11.7% | +2.1% |
| FCATTLE | 2017-06-23 | [U.S. livestock: CME live cattle rally before USDA report - Country Guide](https://feedsoft.ai/events/70627-u-s-livestock-cme-live-cattle-rally-before-usda-report-country-guide.md) | +2.6% | +6.6% |

## Sources

- mla.com.au: https://www.mla.com.au/prices-markets/market-news/2020/us-cattle-herd-expansion-ends/

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