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An ag economist says the cattle industry is watching closely for signs of herd expansion

An ag economist says the cattle industry continues to look for any signs of herd expansion.  Charley Martinez with the University of Tennessee says, “We want to know the percentage of heifers and that’s really what everyone is wanting to know.”

He says state breakdowns continue to be important. “In the last report, for the first time in a long time Texas was not the number one cattle feeding state,” he says.  “We want to see if that continues to hold true because we know that New World screwworm is having an impact and it is part of the reason why we saw that.”

He tells Brownfield this week’s report and next week’s Cattle Inventory report will provide better insight into the industry’s direction.  “Are we still in slight liquidation, are we still in a holding pattern,” he says.  “I don’t expect to see any rebuilding nationally, but there might be some states that have had an increase in numbers for year-over-year changes.”

Cattle on Feed numbers are out today at 3 Eastern/2 Central. 

The January Inventory report comes out next Friday at 3 Eastern/2 Central.