Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the U.S. for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.9 million head on Jan. 1, 2024.

The inventory was up 2% from Jan. 1, 2023.

The inventory included 7.2 million steers and steer calves, also a 2% from year-ago levels. This group accounted for 60% of total inventory, while heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.74 million head, also up 2% from 2023.

Read the report here.