8-2 NWR Cattle inventory expands

The nation's cattle inventory could be on track to grow by nearly 700,000 head by the end of 2016, according to CattleFax Senior Analyst Kevin Good.

Following upward trends set in 2015, herd expansion signals include lower-than-average heifer slaughter numbers and more favorable weather conditions in many parts of the country.                           

 

While cattle prices may not be at the record levels experienced in recent years, cow-calf producers remain in the driver's seat. Good anticipates strong cow-calf margins to support expansion in the coming years.               

 

Good says herd expansion is expected to slow and eventually stop all together by 2018. And until that time, market demands and Mother Nature will play a role in defining the next phase for the cattle industry.

Elsewhere, according to Reuters, genetically modified wheat developed by Monsanto Company and never approved by federal regulators, has been found growing in a Washington state farm field according to the USDA. The discovery of 22 unapproved genetically modified wheat plants has prompted an investigation by federal and state investigators... The third such discovery in three years. A farmer found the GMO wheat in a field that has not been planted since 2015.