02/05/08 Washington cattle numbers up

Washington Ag February 5, 2008 The size of the U.S. cattle herd as of January 1st of this year was slightly smaller than a year ago but the National Agricultural Statistics Service says that in Washington state the number of cattle at the start of this year was up three percent at 515-thousand head. There was a gain of three percent in both the state's beef and dairy cow numbers. And while at the national level the number of beef replacement heifers was down, that number was up in Washington. The feedlot inventory in the state January 1st was down however from last year by nine percent. After digesting all the national numbers USDA livestock analyst Shayle Shagum says every sector of the beef industry will feel economic pressure this year. High hay prices are impacting cow-calf producers. Shagum: "The cattle feeders are going to be squeezed. Two factors; one is the tight supply of cattle outside of feedlots. The number of cattle outside of feedlots is about unchanged from last year and they are also going to be facing relatively high grain prices. And of course to the extent there are fewer cattle going into the feedlots it would also imply that there is going to be tight supply of fed cattle coming out of the feedlots, which would imply packers are going to have to bid relatively high prices for those cattle." The USDA says Washington had 49-thousand head of sheep at the start of this year. That was down four percent from 2007. I'm Bob Hoff.