The USDA-NASS released its first Cattle on Feed numbers for 2018, showing cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.5 million head on Jan. 1, 2018. The U.S. inventory was 8 percent above Jan. 1, 2017, with Texas up 9 percent and Oklahoma up 5 percent over the previous year and Texas down 1 percent from 1 month ago, while Oklahoma held steady. The U.S. inventory included 7.34 million steers and steer calves, up 4 percent from the previous year. This group accounted for 64 percent of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.15 million head, up 16 percent from 2017. Read more…