USDA NASS reports Wyoming cattle and sheep numbers down 

The Jan. 1 Cattle Survey and Sheep and Goat Survey, conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), were released on the last day of January, showing a decline in livestock numbers across the state of Wyoming. 

Cattle inventory

According to the survey, the Jan. 1 inventory of all cattle and calves in Wyoming totaled 1.22 million head, down 40,000 head or three percent from the Jan. 1, 2024 inventory. 

NASS notes both the state’s beef herd, at 651,000 head, and the 2024 calf crop, at 620,000 head, are also down three percent – around 20,000 head each – while the milk cow inventory, at 9,000 head, remains unchanged from last year. 

The survey also shows an unchanged inventory of beef replacement heifers of 500-plus pounds at 125,000 head; milk replacement heifers of the same weight at 6,000 head and bulls 500 pounds and over at 35,000 head.

Both heifers and steers at 500 pounds and above are down three percent, totaling 139,000 and 170,000 head respectively, and calves under 500 pounds are down 11 percent at 85,000 head.

Likewise, the entire U.S. cattle inventory has continued its downward trend, reporting a total 86.7 million head of all cattle and calves as of Jan. 1, one percent below the 87.2 million head reported the previous year.

This one percent decline is seen throughout the national herd’s weight and age class stats, including 500-plus pound heifers at 18.2 million head, beef replacement heifers at 4.67 million head, milk replacement heifers at 3.91 million head, all other heifers at 9.59 million head, steers weighing 500 pounds and over at 15.8 million head, bulls weighing 500 pounds and over at 2.01 million head and calves under 500 pounds at 13.5 million head.

The survey also shows cattle and calves on feed for the U.S. slaughter market totaled 14.3 million head, down one percent from the 14.4 million reported in 2024.

“Cattle on feed in feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head accounted for 82.7 percent of the total cattle on feed on Jan. 1, up slightly from the previous year,” NASS explains. “The combined total of calves under 500 pounds and other heifers and steers over 500 pounds outside of feedlots, at 24.6 million head, was slightly below Jan. 1, 2024 numbers.”

Additionally, the nation’s 2024 calf crop, at 35.5 million head, was down slightly from the previous year as well.

Sheep inventory 

Similar to its cow herd, Wyoming’s sheep inventory has seen a decline over the past year with all sheep and lambs as of Jan. 1 totaling 300,000 head, down six percent from the year prior.

NASS notes the number of breeding sheep and lambs, at 235,000 head, is down four percent from 2024, while the number of market sheep and lambs, at 65,000 head, is down 13 percent.  

“Of the total breeding sheep, the number of ewes one-year-old and older decreased three percent to 195,000 head; rams one-year-old and older decreased 17 percent to 5,000 head and replacement lambs decreased 10 percent to 35,000 head,” reads the survey. “Of the total market sheep and lambs, 2,000 head were market sheep and 63,000 head were market lambs.”

According to NASS data, the 2024 lamb crop totaled 215,000 head, down two percent from the year before. 

There were 1,000 lambs weighing less than 65 pounds, down 1,000 head from last year; 6,000 head weighing 65 to 84 pounds, down 2,000 head; 26,000 weighing 85 to 105 pounds, down 4,000 head and 30,000 weighing over 105 pounds, down 3,000 head.

“Wool production in Wyoming during 2024 totaled 2.18 million pounds, down five percent from the previous year,” NASS notes. “The number of all sheep and lambs shorn, at 240,000 head, was down six percent from the 255,000 head shorn a year earlier. The value of wool production for 2024 totaled $4.80 million, a decrease of five percent from a year earlier, as producers received $2.20 per pound of wool sold.”

Comparatively, at the national level, all sheep and lambs totaled 5.05 million head as of Jan. 1, up slightly from the same time last year.

The U.S. breeding sheep inventory totaled 3.68 million head, up slightly from 2024’s 3.67 million head, while ewes one-year-old and older, at 2.88 million head, were up slightly and market sheep and lambs, at 1.37 million head, were up one percent.

The 2024 lamb crop was also up slightly, at 3.04 million head, and the lambing rate increased three percent to 106 lambs per 100 ewes one-year-old and older.

The report says, “Shorn wool production in the U.S. during 2024 was 22.5 million pounds, down one percent from 2023. Sheep and lambs shorn totaled 3.17 million head, down two percent from 2023. The average price paid for wool sold in 2024 was $1.43 per pound for a total value of $32.1 million, down nine percent from $35.4 million in 2023. As of Jan. 1, 27 percent of the total sheep and lambs were hair sheep or wool-hair crosses.”

Lastly, NASS notes 2024 sheep death loss remained unchanged from the year prior at 200,000 head, while lamb death loss increased one percent from 365,000 head to 370,000 head.

Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.