Texas cattle herd declined 11% last year

Last Friday’s Cattle Inventory from USDA showing how much the drought is affecting cattle numbers in the Southern Plains. The Texas herd declined 1.4 million head to 11.9 million cattle and calves as of January 1, an 11 percent decline from a year earlier. Cow numbers declined 12 percent down 650,000 to 4.8 million cows. That is the biggest decline in the Texas cattle herd in nearly 150 years of record-keeping.

Similar declines in Oklahoma where the total cattle and calves declined 12 percent to 4.5 million head, a loss of 600,000 animals. Cow numbers in Oklahoma totaled 1.78 million head as of January 1, down 90,000 or 14 percent from a year earlier.

In Kansas, cow numbers and total cattle and calves both declined 3 percent for the year.

As expected, some of the animals moved north, Nebraska’s total herd increased 250,000 or 4 percent last year to 6.45 million animals. The Cornhusker State added 80,000 cows to 1.94 million head at 6 percent increase for the year. That now makes Nebraska the second-largest cattle-producing state in the nation. Colorado cow numbers increased 4 percent to 880,000 while total cattle and calves increased 4 percent to 2.75 million head. Iowa’s total herd held steady for the year but cow numbers increased 5 percent to 1.1 million head.

Another interesting note, the report shows that while total cow numbers declined 12 percent in Texas last year dairy cow numbers in the state increased 2 percent to 435,000. In fact, all of the western states added to their dairy cow herd, Arizona increased 3 percent, New Mexico added 4 percent, California increased 2 percent, Nevada added 4 percent, Utah up 3 percent, Oregon increased 2 percent, Washington’s increased 4 percent, Idaho added 1 percent and Colorado jumped 7 percent for the year.

Perhaps, indicative of the drought, replacement dairy heifer numbers were down in Texas and New Mexico.