Rebuilding the U.S. Cow Herd: A Calculated Climb

ZISK
Sep 23
1 min read

Lance Zimmerman is a senior beef industry analyst with RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness and helped provide research and insights for Drover’s State of the Beef Industry report.

Cow liquidation is in the rearview. Heifer retention is underway. The U.S. cattle cycle is officially shifting into rebuild mode, but this recovery will not be a stampede. It’s shaping up as a slow, strategic climb.

Beef processing bottlenecks, persistent drought, soaring feed costs, labor shortages and post-pandemic friction kept cow-calf margins relatively tight from 2016 to 2022. Some of those pressures have eased, but with herd numbers set to grow, others could easily resurface. As producers hold back more heifer calves this fall, herd replenishment remains a cautious and calculated exercise.

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