Cattle Numbers Off 1% in North America

WASHINGTON - Feb 17/10 - SNS -- Cattle inventory in the United States and Canada totalled 106.7 million head as of January 1, down 1% from last year, according to a joint report from the USDA and Statistics Canada.

All cows and heifers that have calved, at 45.9 million head, were down 2% from a year ago.

All cattle and calves in the United States as of January 1, 2010, totaled 93.7 million head, 1% below the 94.5 million on January 1, 2009. All cows and heifers that have calved, at 40.5 million head, were down 1% from a year ago.

All cattle and calves in Canada as of January 1, 2010, totaled 13.0 million head, down 1% from the 13.2 million on January 1, 2009. All cows and heifers that have calved, at 5.45 million, were down 3% from a year ago.