State And National Cattle Inventory For 2026
ANDREW P. GRIFFITH
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE
The January 1, 2026 Cattle Inventory report was released the last Friday in January. The quick highlights from a national perspective were as follows. All cattle and calves inventory totaled 86.16 million head, which is a decline of 316,900 head (-0.4%) compared to the previous year. Beef cow inventory totaled 27.61 million head, which is a 284,800 head reduction (-1.0%) from the previous year. Dairy cow inventory increased 187,500 head (2.0%) from the previous year. The quantity of beef heifers held for replacement totaled 4.71 million head, which was a 41,700 head increase (0.9%) from the previous year. Lastly, the 2025 calf crop was estimated at 32.90 million head representing a 520,900 head decline from 2024.
The national numbers provide a nice overall perspective of the supply side of the market, but it is also beneficial to consider how inventory changed in different regions of the country. It is probably best to begin with the largest cattle producing region (22.60 million head) in the country which is the Southern Plains (KS, OK, TX). All cattle and calves in the Southern Plains decreased 50,000 head (-0.2%) over the past year. However, this is a 100,000 head decline in Kansas, a 50,000 head increase in Oklahoma and no change for Texas. Beef cow numbers declined 108,000 head (1.5%) in the Southern Plains with Kansas declining 85,000 head, Texas declining 30,000 head, and a 7,000 head increase in Oklahoma. The flip side of that is 55,000 more heifers held for beef replacement in the Southern Plains compared to a year ago, which is a 4.9 percent increase from the previous year.
The numbers were a little different in the Southeast (AL, AK, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA). These 11 states had a total cattle and calf inventory of 12.46 million head, which was 95,000 head less (-0.8%) than the previous year. The quantity of beef cows declined 21,000 head (-0.4%) compared to the previous year with Georgia down 14,000 head, Kentucky down 7,000 head, and Tennessee down 8,000 head. There must have been some states in the region with a larger beef cow herd, but values for those states were not reported. The only two states in this region with a larger cattle and calf inventory than the year before were Alabama and Florida. The Southeast region retained 17,000 more (2.4%) heifers for beef replacement this year than they did one year ago, which was made up of increases of 5,000 head apiece for Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia and 2,000 more head for Alabama.
The Northern Plains (CO, MT, ND, NE, SD, WY) are the anomaly of the bunch as their total cattle and calves inventory increased 120,000 head (0.7%) over the past year to 17.28 million head. Montana and Wyoming saw declining numbers while Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota witnessed increasing inventory. The increase in inventory was not due to more beef cows as total beef cows in the region was down 31,000 head (-0.5%) with declining beef cow inventory in all of the states except Colorado and North Dakota. The Northern Plain states increased heifers for beef cow replacement by 11,000 head (0.9%) compared to the previous year. The primary increase in cattle numbers in this region was cattle on feed as Nebraska had 100,000 more head on feed to start 2026 than 2025.
Lastly, but most certainly not least, the Midwest (IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, MO, OH, WI) all cattle and calves inventory declined 150,000 head (-0.9%) compared to the previous year to 17.3 million head. This decline was largely due to the 100,000 head decline in Missouri and the 50,000 head decline in Iowa. Total beef cow numbers declined 62,000 head (-1.3%) from the previous year, which is primarily from the 58,000 head decline in Missouri. Heifers for beef cow replacement were down 13,000 head (1.8%) compared to the previous year with Missouri and Ohio down 10,000 head each.
There is certainly some regionality to cattle inventory. Most regions have increased heifer retention of beef cow replacement, but it is certainly not across the board. This information is certainly supportive of cattle prices for a few more years. ∆
ANDREW P. GRIFFITH
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE