The total number of cattle and calves in Illinois on Jan. 1 was 1.12 million head, 50,000 head above last year’s total. This is the first increase in Jan. 1 cattle inventory since 2007. Beef cows and steers played the largest part in this increase, up 29,000 and 30,000 respectively.

All cattle and calves in the United States as of Jan. 1 totaled 89.3 million head, 2 percent below the 90.8 million on Jan. 1, 2012. This is the lowest Jan. 1 inventory of all cattle and calves since the 88.1 million on hand in 1952.

All cows and heifers that have calved, at 38.5 million, were down 2 percent from the 39.4 million on Jan. 1, 2012. This is the lowest Jan. 1 inventory of all cows and heifers that have calved since the 36.8 million head in 1941.