The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Friday an increase in cattle on feed to help address rising export demand and higher prices.
Consumers are likely to face tight supplies and high prices for red meat at the supermarket next year, the USDA has said. Beef production is forecast to drop 5 percent next year, a reflection of a reduction in U.S. cattle herds to their lowest levels since the late 1950s.
Cattle on feed, those younger animals being fattened for eventual slaughter, rose 4 percent to 12.1 million on Dec. 1 from a year earlier, the USDA said.
In Iowa, feedlot placement were down 3 percent to 570,000 animals. Iowa is the nation’s fifth-largest cattle feeding state, trailing Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado.
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