United States Department of Agriculture

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2020 – There were 103.0 million head of cattle and calves on U.S. farms as of July 1, 2020, according to the Cattle report published today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Other key findings in the report were:

• Of the 103.0 million head inventory, all cows and heifers that have calved totaled 41.4 million.
• There are 32.1 million beef cows in the United States as of July 1, 2020, down 1% from last year.
• The number of milk cows in the United States increased to 9.4 million.
• U.S. calf crop was estimated at 35.8 million head, down 1% from 2019.
• All cattle on feed were at 13.6 million head, unchanged from 2019.

To obtain an accurate measurement of the current state of the U.S. cattle industry, NASS surveyed over 19,100 operators across the nation during the first half of July. Surveyed producers were asked to report their cattle inventories as of July 1, 2020, and calf crop for the entire year of 2020 by internet, mail, or telephone.

The Cattle report and all other NASS reports are available online at nass.usda.gov/Publications.