U.S. Livestock Summary

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Cattle Inventory Up

The inventory of all cattle and calves on January 1, 1996, totaled 103.8 million head, up 1 percent from the previous year. Higher inventories of beef cows, calves, steers, and other heifers were partially offset by declines in milk cows, heifers for beef, and milk cow replacements. These reduced numbers indicate the cattle inventory may be nearing the peak of the current cycle. The 1995 calf crop, at 40.3 million head, was up slightly from a year earlier. The number of operations during 1995 totaled 1.2 million, down less than 1 percent from 1994. A 1 percent drop in the number of operations with fewer than 50 head was almost offset by increases in larger operations. During 1995, commercial beef production totaled 25.1 billion pounds, 3 percent above the previous year.

On January 1, 1996, the inventory of cattle on feed in the 13 major producing States gained 4 percent from the previous year to 11.0 million head. The 1,936 feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head accounted for 89 percent of the total inventory. Inventories in these larger feedlots were up 8 percent from the previous year while inventories in the smaller lots fell 19 percent. Fed cattle marketings during 1995 totaled 23.4 million head, up 2 percent from a year earlier.


Milk Production Increases 1 Percent

Milk production increased 1 percent in 1995 to a total 155.6 billion pounds. Milk cows declined slightly, but production per cow rose by 2 percent. The expansion of production in the western States slowed somewhat during 1995. Nationally, operations milking 100 or more cows continue to increase their share of production. The biggest gains took place among those operations with 200 or more milk cows.

Hog Inventory Declines Slightly

The inventory of hogs and pigs on December 1, 1995, declined less than 1 percent from the 1994 level. The inventory of breeding animals increased slightly, but market hog inventories dropped almost 1 percent. Sows farrowed fell 3 percent during the year, but pig crop declined only 1 percent thanks to a boost in pigs saved per litter. With only 26 percent of total operations, those with 2,000 or more hogs on hand held 43.0 percent of the inventory, compared to 37.0 in 1994 and 28.5 percent in 1992. Commercial pork production totaled 17.8 billion pounds in 1995, up 1 percent from a year earlier. Both head slaughtered and average dressed weights rose from 1994 levels.


Poultry Value of Production Up

The combined value of production from broilers, eggs, and turkeys and the value of sales from chickens in 1994, was $17.9 billion, up 6 percent from the $16.8 billion in 1993. Of the 1994 combined total, 64 percent was from broilers, 21 percent from eggs, 15 percent from turkeys, and less than 1 percent from other chickens.

The value of broilers produced during 1994 was $11.4 billion, up 9 percent from the $10.4 billion in 1993. The total number produced in 1994 was 7.02 billion, up 5 percent from 1993. The number of broilers produced has increased each year for the past 19 years. The total live weight pounds of broilers produced in 1994 was 32.5 billion pounds, up 6 percent from 1993. The average live weight per broiler continues to increase slowly, at 4.63 pounds per bird in 1994.

The value of turkeys produced during 1994 was $2.67 billion, up 6 percent from the $2.51 billion the previous year. Turkey production totaled 6.61 billion pounds live weight, compared with 6.43 billion pounds in 1993. The average price received by producers during 1994 was 40.4 cents per pound, compared with 39.0 cents in 1993.


Chicken Inventory Up Fractionally

The number of chickens on December 1, 1995, (excluding commercial broilers) was 384 million, up fractionally from last year. Layers, at 298 million, were virtually unchanged from the previous year. The 78.3 million pullets were up only slightly from the 77.9 million of December 1, 1994. Other chickens showed a 4 percent increase to 7.64 million birds. All chickens were valued at $916 million on December 1, 1995, up 2 percent from the year earlier. Average value increased from $2.35 to $2.38 per bird.

Egg Production Up 1 Percent

Egg production during the year ending November 30, 1995 totaled 74.3 billion eggs, up 1 percent from 73.9 billion eggs in 1994. Layer numbers during 1995 averaged 294 million, up 1 percent from the year earlier. The annual average production per layer on hand in 1995 was 253 eggs, compared with the 1994 average of 254 eggs per layer.

Trout and Catfish Sales Increase

For trout growers in the 15 selected States, value of sales was $73.9 million during the year ending August 31, 1995, which was an increase of 13 percent over the $65.1 million of a year earlier. Growers sold a total of 58.4 million pounds of trout.

Catfish growers in the 15 selected States had sales of $399 million during 1995. These sales were up 1 percent from the 1994 total of $397 million. Sales of stockers totaled $4.75 million, down 11 percent from the $5.32 million in sales during 1994. Catfish water acres increased 8 percent from January 1, 1995, to 167,000 on January 1, 1996.