Unlike crops, livestock production, trade, and domestic consumption are vastly interconnected and less responsive to short-term market signals and changes due to the time required to expand and contract herd sizes and inventories. Livestock trade involves both the trade of live animals and their by-products (e.g., meat). 

Cattle 

The United States has reached a pivotal point in the cattle industry with historically tight domestic supplies, record high prices, and consumer demand for beef continuing to rise. Inventories for calves and beef cows have dramatically declined since 1975 (Figure 1). Even so, cattle on feed have experienced a slight uptick in the last three decades partly driven by consumer beef demand that continues to trend upward ...