# Beef Herd Expansion Near End?

> A weekly outlook argues US beef herd expansion may be ending, with beef cow numbers up nine percent since 2014 but unchanged year on year in the mid-year USDA cattle inventory. Replacement heifers are down and weaker calf prices reduce incentives to expand, while beef exports fell three percent in the first five months.

- Date: 2019-01-01 · published 2019-01-01T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: report · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/61037-beef-herd-expansion-near-end
- Commodities: [Live Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/LCATTLE.md), [Feeder Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/FCATTLE.md)

## Why it matters

A plateau in cow numbers and a smaller 2019 calf crop point to slower beef output growth into 2020-2021, which supports feeder and fed cattle prices and firmer demand for feed.

## Read by commodity

- FCATTLE: bullish ▲
- LCATTLE: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LCATTLE | 2020-02-04 | [2020 Cattle Inventory—Herd Expansion Comes to an End - ProAg](https://feedsoft.ai/events/54543-2020-cattle-inventory-herd-expansion-comes-to-an-end-proag.md) | -1.0% | -7.7% |
| LCATTLE | 2024-10-29 | [Fed Market Reflects Beginning Signs of Cow Herd Expansion](https://feedsoft.ai/events/28013-fed-market-reflects-beginning-signs-of-cow-herd-expansion.md) | -1.4% | -1.9% |
| LCATTLE | 2023-02-03 | [The US Cowherd Now Has the Fewest Beef Cows Ever](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10214-the-us-cowherd-now-has-the-fewest-beef-cows-ever.md) | +1.3% | +4.1% |
| LCATTLE | 2019-12-19 | [Cattle and beef: Where to from here?](https://feedsoft.ai/events/55547-cattle-and-beef-where-to-from-here.md) | +0.9% | +3.9% |
| LCATTLE | 2022-08-23 | [Beef herd contraction supports cattle prices \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/39971-beef-herd-contraction-supports-cattle-prices-capital-press.md) | -0.6% | +0.3% |
| FCATTLE | 2020-02-04 | [2020 Cattle Inventory—Herd Expansion Comes to an End - ProAg](https://feedsoft.ai/events/54543-2020-cattle-inventory-herd-expansion-comes-to-an-end-proag.md) | -0.7% | -2.3% |
| FCATTLE | 2024-10-29 | [Fed Market Reflects Beginning Signs of Cow Herd Expansion](https://feedsoft.ai/events/28013-fed-market-reflects-beginning-signs-of-cow-herd-expansion.md) | -1.5% | +2.2% |
| FCATTLE | 2023-02-03 | [The US Cowherd Now Has the Fewest Beef Cows Ever](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10214-the-us-cowherd-now-has-the-fewest-beef-cows-ever.md) | +0.5% | +2.2% |

## Sources

- doi.org: https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.298609

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