Social media news accounts were snorting excitement on Thursday about a Nebraska cattle producer hauling his Watusi bull in the passenger seat of a tailor-made vehicle.

On July 21, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its biannual Cattle report. According to the report, on July 1, 2023, all cattle and calves were estimated at 95.9 million head, down 2.7 million head, or nearly 3%, from July 2022.

Urus Group LP, one of the world’s major marketers of bovine genetics, completed the acquisition of a majority interest in Leachman Cattle of Colorado, one of the largest and most respected seedstock producers in the U.S.

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its midyear Cattle report on July 21, offering an important update on cattle inventories. The report confirmed that the U.S. cow herd has continued to decline through the first half of the year.

Since January, slaughter data has indicated a 12% decline in beef cow slaughter. This is likely a combination of improving pasture conditions, sufficient reductions in animal units per acre on poorer pastures and the prospect of improved profitability from selling calves.