Mexican cattle herd problems will affect US feedlots, report claims
19/02/2013
Drought conditions that have led to the US having its smallest cattle herd in more than 60 years have also hit south of the border.
According to the Rabobank report, imports from Mexico accounted for 10% of all US cattle on feed in 2012, however in the key southern regions of Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico and California Mexico was the source of as many as 30% of cattle on feed last year.
Historically, Rabobank says in the report, only 5% of Mexico’s national herd was exported as feeder cattle Mexico's feeder cattle exports but in 2011 and 2012 this figure increased to 20%.
In addition, Mexico's cattle herd has dropped to 20 million head, down from 30 million in the early 1990s. Even after drought conditions in 2011 exacerbated this decline,feeder shipments continued to the US at what the bank has called “an unsustainable pace”, with heifers making up a larger proportion of the mix (up to 25% of total exports) in the absence of enough steers, harming the herd size further.
A depleted inventory means a similar level of exports will not be possible in 2013.
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