Cattle and Sheep and Goat Surveys

Cattle and Sheep and Goat Surveys

Maura Bennett
Maura Bennett

The January inventory of all cattle and calves in Colorado totaled 2.65 million head. That was down 4 percent from the January 2020 inventory, according to the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Beef cows, at 659,000 head, were down 112,000 head from the previous year.

Milk cows increased 12,000 head from last year to 201,000 head.

Colorado’s 2020 calf crop, at 790,000 head, is down 4 percent from 2019.

The total inventory included 1.14 million head of cattle and calves on feed, up 2 percent from last year.

All cattle and calves in the United States as of January 1, 2021, totaled 93.6 million head, slightly below the 93.8 million head on January 1, 2020.

The January inventory of all sheep and lambs in Colorado totaled 445,000 head. That was up 5 percent from January 2020.

The number of breeding sheep and lambs increased by 8 percent from last year to 210,000 head while market sheep and lambs increased by 2 percent to 235,000 head.

The 2020 lamb crop, at 190,000 head, was up 3 percent from the 2019 lamb crop.

Bill Meyer heads of the NASS Office:

Meyer: “For sheep and goats this is the one time of year that we can get inventory levels for all states in the US. and for the cattle, we get the state by state breakdowns and their different categories. I want to thank everybody who helped us with those reports.”

Wool production in Colorado during 2020 totaled 2.50 million pounds, up 6 percent from the previous year. The number of all sheep and lambs shorn, at 370,000 head, was up 10 percent from a year earlier. The value of wool production for 2020 totaled $5.25 million and was down 14 percent year over year. Producers received $2.10 per pound of wool compared with $2.60 per pound the previous year.

Meat and other goats accounted for 24,000 head, compared with 23,000 head last year and milk goats totaled 8,000 head, compared with 9,500 head a year ago.

All goats and kids inventory in the United States on January 1, 2021, totaled 2.58 million head, down 3 percent from 2020.

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More on cattle:

Other class estimates as of January 1, 2021, and percent changes from 2020 were as follows: Beef replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, down 16 percent to 130,000 head; milk replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, up 4 percent to 120,000 head; other heifers 500 pounds and over, unchanged at 570,000 head; steers 500 pounds and over, up 4 percent to 810,000 head; bulls 500 pounds and over, down 10 percent to 45,000 head; and calves under 500 pounds, down 4 percent to 115,000 head.

More on sheep and goats:

The number of replacement lambs increased 3 percent to 35,000 head. The number of ewes one-year-old and older increased 8 percent from last year to 169,000 head. The number of rams one-year-old and older, at 6,000 head, is up 1,000 head from last year. Of the 235,000 head of market sheep and lambs, 3,000 head were market sheep and 232,000 head were market lambs. There were 5,000 lambs weighing less than 65 pounds this year, up 2,000 head from a year earlier; 22,000 head were in the 65- 84 pound weight group, up 3,000 head from the previous year; 56,000 head weighed 85-105 pounds compared with 45,000 head last year; and 149,000 head weighed over 105 pounds compared with 160,000 head in this weight group on January 1, 2020.

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