Expensive cattle and beef prices are suddenly receiving intense scrutiny from politicians, consumers and the media. While it seems to many that the situation has only recently happened, it has been developing for several years. The beef cow herd on January 1, 2025, was 27.86 million head, which was a decrease of 3.78 million head, or 11.9 percent, from the cyclical peak of 31.64 million head in 2019. The beef cow herd is currently the smallest inventory since 1961. The projected 2025 calf crop is 33.1 million head after declining for seven consecutive years and is the smallest since 1941.
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