According to the December 2018 USDA Cattle on Feed Report, the total inventory of U.S. cattle and calves on feed in 1,000+ capacity feedlots was 11.74 million head, up 1.94% from December 2017. The five leading states for cattle on feed include:

1.       Texas (2.68 million head)

2.       Nebraska (2.6 million head)

3.       Kansas (2.36 million head)

4.       Colorado (990,000 head)

5.       Iowa (700,000 head)

Iowa’s December cattle on feed estimates remained the same from the previous month. Iowa also remained the same from December 2017 at 700,000 head. Most of the major states in cattle on feed inventories saw increases over the past year. South Dakota is the only major state to see a decrease. South Dakota is the 11 largest state feeding 240,000 head. The two largest increases by individual states from November to December 2018 are Idaho and California which both saw increases of 15,000 head. The largest decrease from November came from Colorado which decreased it inventory by 10,000 head.

Chris Mandt, Research Analyst, Decision Innovation Solutions (DIS). DIS is an Iowa-based economic research firm which provides regular farm economic research for Iowa Farm Bureau staff & members.