CATTLE INVENTORY JANUARY 1, 2018
ARIZONA
The January 1, 2018 inventory of all cattle and calves in Arizona totaled 1.00 million head, up 3 percent from the January 1, 2017 inventory, according to the January 1 Cattle Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. Beef cows, at 187,000 head, were up 3,000 head from the previous year. Milk cows increased 7,000 head from last year to 203,000 head. Arizona’s 2017 calf crop, at 310,000 head, is down 3 percent from 2016.
Other class estimates as of January 1, 2018 and percent changes from 2017 were as follows: Beef replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, down 5 percent to 36,000 head; milk replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, down 10 percent to 105,000 head; other heifers 500 pounds and over, down 17 percent to 29,000 head; steers 500 pounds and over, up 4 percent to 275,000 head; bulls 500 pounds and over, unchanged at 20,000 head; and calves under 500 pounds, up 26 percent to 145,000 head. The total inventory included 274,000 head of cattle and calves on feed, up 8 percent from last year.
COLORADO
The January 1, 2018 inventory of all cattle and calves in Colorado totaled 2.85 million head, unchanged from the January 1, 2017 inventory, according to the January 1 Cattle Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. Beef cows, at 809,000 head, were up 4,000 head from the previous year. Milk cows increased 11,000 head from last year to 166,000 head. Colorado’s 2017 calf crop, at 830,000 head, is unchanged from 2016.
Other class estimates as of January 1, 2018 and percent changes from 2017 were as follows: Beef replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, down 5 percent to 180,000 head; milk replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, unchanged at 100,000 head; other heifers 500 pounds and over, up 6 percent to 550,000 head; steers 500 pounds and over, down 5 percent to 810,000 head; bulls 500 pounds and over, unchanged at 55,000 head; and calves under 500 pounds, up 3 percent to 180,000 head. The total inventory included 1.00 million head of cattle and calves on feed, up 6 percent from last year.
MONTANA
The January 1, 2018 inventory of all cattle and calves in Montana totaled 2.55 million head, down 4 percent from the January 1, 2017 inventory, according to the January 1 Cattle Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. Beef cows, at 1.50 million head, were up 11,000 head from the previous year. Milk cows decreased 1,000 head from last year to 13,000 head. Montana’s 2017 calf crop, at 1.48 million head, is up 2 percent from 2016.
Other class estimates as of January 1, 2018 and percent changes from 2017 were as follows: Beef replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, down 8 percent to 390,000 head; milk replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, down 22 percent to 7,000 head; other heifers 500 pounds and over, down 13 percent to 223,000 head; steers 500 pounds and over, down 9 percent to 210,000 head; bulls 500 pounds and over, up 5 percent to 105,000 head; and calves under 500 pounds, down 19 percent to 105,000 head. The total inventory included 45,000 head of cattle and calves on feed, unchanged from last year.
NEW MEXICO
The January 1, 2018 inventory of all cattle and calves in New Mexico totaled 1.51 million head, up 6 percent from the January 1, 2017 inventory, according to the January 1 Cattle Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. Beef cows, at 483,000 head, were up 18,000 head from the previous year. Milk cows increased 7,000 head from last year to 332,000 head. New Mexico’s 2017 calf crop, at 640,000 head, is up 5 percent from 2016.
Other class estimates as of January 1, 2018 and percent changes from 2017 were as follows: Beef replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, up 5 percent to 105,000 head; milk replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, up 18 percent to 130,000 head; other heifers 500 pounds and over, up 6 percent to 95,000 head; steers 500 pounds and over, up 8 percent to 130,000 head; bulls 500 pounds and over, up 14 percent to 40,000 head; and calves under 500 pounds, up 5 percent to 195,000 head.
UTAH
The January 1, 2018 inventory of all cattle and calves in Utah totaled 800,000 head, down 2 percent from the January 1, 2017 inventory, according to the January 1 Cattle Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. Beef cows, at 338,000 head, were unchanged from the previous year. Milk cows increased 5,000 head from last year to 97,000 head. Utah’s 2017 calf crop, at 375,000 head, is down 1 percent from 2016.
Other class estimates as of January 1, 2018 and percent changes from 2017 were as follows: Beef replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, down 12 percent to 75,000 head; milk replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, down 9 percent to 50,000 head; other heifers 500 pounds and over, unchanged at 60,000 head; steers 500 pounds and over, unchanged at 80,000 head; bulls 500 pounds and over, down 7 percent to 25,000 head; and calves under 500 pounds, down 10 percent to 75,000 head. The total inventory included 20,000 head of cattle and calves on feed, unchanged from last year.
WYOMING
The January 1, 2018 inventory of all cattle and calves in Wyoming totaled 1.32 million head, down 1 percent from the January 1, 2017 inventory, according to the January 1 Cattle Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. Beef cows, at 714,000 head, were unchanged from the previous year. Milk cows were unchanged from last year at 6,000 head. Wyoming’s 2017 calf crop, at 660,000 head, is unchanged from 2016.
Other class estimates as of January 1, 2018 and percent changes from 2017 were as follows: Beef replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, down 14 percent to 160,000 head; milk replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, up 33 percent to 4,000 head; other heifers 500 pounds and over, down 1 percent to 136,000 head; steers 500 pounds and over, up 9 percent to 175,000 head; bulls 500 pounds and over, unchanged at 40,000 head; and calves under 500 pounds, unchanged at 85,000 head. The total inventory included 70,000 head of cattle and calves on feed, down 7 percent from last year.
UNITED STATES
All cattle and calves in the United States, as of January 1, 2018, totaled 94.4 million head, 1 percent above the 93.7 million head on January 1, 2017.
All cows and heifers that have calved, at 41.1 million head, were 1 percent above the 40.6 million head on January 1, 2017. Beef cows, at 31.7 million head, were up 2 percent from a year ago. Milk cows, at 9.40 million head, were up 1 percent from the previous year.
All heifers 500 pounds and over, as of January 1, 2018, totaled 20.2 million head, 1 percent above the 20.1 million head on January 1, 2017. Beef replacement heifers, at 6.13 million head, were down 4 percent from a year ago. Milk replacement heifers, at 4.78 million head, were up 1 percent from the previous year. Other heifers, at 9.33 million head, were 4 percent above a year earlier.
Steers weighing 500 pounds and over, as of January 1, 2018, totaled 16.4 million head, down slightly from January 1, 2017. Bulls weighing 500 pounds and over, as of January 1, 2018, totaled 2.25 million head, up slightly from January 1, 2017. Calves under 500 pounds, as of January 1, 2018, totaled 14.4 million head, up slightly from January 1, 2017.
Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for all feedlots totaled 14.0 million head on January 1, 2018. The inventory is up 7 percent from the January 1, 2017 total of 13.1 million head. Cattle on feed, in feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head, accounted for 82.0 percent of the total cattle on feed on January 1, 2018, up 1 percent from the previous year. The combined total of calves under 500 pounds and other heifers and steers over 500 pounds (outside of feedlots) is 26.1 million head, 2 percent below one year ago.
The 2017 calf crop in the United States was estimated at 35.8 million head, up 2 percent from last year's calf crop. Calves born during the first half of 2017 were estimated at 26.0 million head, up 2 percent from the first half of 2016. Calves born during the second half of 2017 were estimated at 9.81 million head, 27 percent of the total 2017 calf crop.
All inventory and calf crop estimates for January 1, 2017 and July 1, 2017 were reviewed using calf crop, official slaughter, import and export data, and the relationship of new survey information to the prior surveys. Based on the findings of this review, January 1, 2017 all cattle and calves increased by 0.1 percent and 2016 calf crop increased slightly. July 1, 2017 all cattle and calves decreased by 0.4 percent, all cows and heifers that have calved decreased by 0.7 percent, and 2017 calf crop decreased by 1.4 percent. State level estimates were reviewed and changes were made to reallocate inventory estimates to the United States total.
For a full copy of the Cattle report please visit www.nass.usda.gov. For state specific questions please contact:
Arizona – Dave DeWalt 1-800-645-7286 Colorado – William R. Meyer 1-800-392-3202 Montana – Eric Sommer 1-800-835-2612 New Mexico – Longino Bustillos 1-800-530-8810 Utah – John Hilton 1-800-747-8522 Wyoming – Rhonda Brandt 1-800-892-1660
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JANUARY 31, 2018
‘The Obama administration was attempting to disseminate that material widely across the government in order to aid in future investigations’ – The Baltimore Sun
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released 42 pages of heavily redacted State Department documents containing classified information that was provided to Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and outspoken critic of President Donald Trump. The documents show Russian political interference in elections and politics in countries across Europe.
According to a March 2017 report in the Baltimore Sun: “Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin received classified information about Russia’s involvement in elections when the Obama administration was attempting to disseminate that material widely across the government in order to aid in future investigations, according to a report Wednesday … Obama officials were concerned, according to the report [in The New York Times, below], that the Trump administration would cover up intelligence once power changed hands.”
In March 2017, former Obama Deputy Asst. Secretary of Defense Evelyn Farkas admitted that there was surveillance of President’s Trump’s campaign and leaking of intelligence information. She encouraged people in the administration and on the Hill to “get as much intelligence as you can before President Obama leaves [office] … I became very worried because not enough was coming out into the open and I knew that there was more … That’s why you have the leaking.”
In a section of the documents provided to Cardin titled “Political Parties” and marked as sensitive, Russia reportedly sought to foster relationships with groups in Germany, Austria, and France, to include paying members to travel to conferences in Crimea and Donbas “where they stoutly defend Russian policy.”
The following section titled “Pro-Kremlin NGOs and Think Tanks,” also marked as sensitive, discusses the Russian government funded Caucasus Research Network, which helped to spread anti-EU and NATO reports throughout the region. Also discussed is the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative, which was founded by Natalia Veselnitskaya. The Initiative was reportedly “working to erode support for the Magnitsky Act (which imposes sanctions on … gross human rights violations). The organization screened an anti-Magnitsky film at Washington’s Newseum in June.”
The Magnitsky Act attracted public attention earlier this year when it was reported Veselnitskaya obtained a meeting with Donald Trump Jr. with the purpose of seeking to undermine the act. It was reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to repeal the act at least in part because it targeted top Russian officials who had committed human rights violations and were the beneficiaries of a $230-million tax fraud that Magnitsky exposed.
“These documents show the Obama State Department under John Kerry gathered and sent its own dossier of classified information on Russia to Senator Ben Cardin, a political ally in the U.S. Senate, to undermine President Trump,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Judicial Watch will pursue information on who pulled this classified information, who authorized its release, and why was it evidently dumped just days before President Trump’s inauguration.”
Judicial Watch obtained the documents in response to a May 9, 2017, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judicial Watch vs U.S. Department of State (No. 1:17-cv-00852)). The suit was filed after the State Department failed to respond to a March 2, 2017, FOIA request seeking:
The New York Times on March 1, 2017, reported:
There also was an effort to pass reports and other sensitive material to Congress. In one instance, the State Department sent a cache of documents marked “secret” to Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland days before the Jan. 20 inauguration. The documents, detailing Russian efforts to intervene in elections worldwide, were sent in response to a request from Mr. Cardin, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, and were shared with Republicans on the panel.
According to the documents, Russia’s actions in the nation of Montenegro were intended to disrupt the October 2016 nationwide elections:
On election day, countless citizens, including Embassy staff, received spam text messages from several countries, including Great Britain and China. The text messages alleged that the DPS [Democratic Party of Socialists, the ruling party in Montenegro] was conducting fraudulent activities on the polling day, such as paying for votes. … At the same time, many portals experienced massive cyber denial of service attacks, including CdM.me, a main news portal, CDT, a key CSO monitoring the elections, and the DPS website itself. … Hacker made multiple attempts to enter the administrative part of CdM’s website, disabling infrastructure, and bringing down servers …
The documents also reveal that Russia aggressively used the media to influence public opinion in the Czech Republic:
We have seen a significant increase in the number of on-line media servers that tout an alternative take on local and international developments than the mainstream media. In the Czech Republic these online media servers are almost exclusively run by Czechs who can often be described as pro-Russian. And while many informed Czech observers believe the influence of Russian disinformation is overstated, they also contend that Russia actively seeks exacerbate fissures within Czech society tapping into dissatisfaction within some segments of Czech society over the socioeconomic return of the EU experiment.
The documents note that some countries resist Russian interference.
Estonia has adopted a “zero tolerance” approach to illegal activities by Russian intelligence operatives.… Every year Kapo, the Estonian domestic intelligence service, puts out a public review of major cases, publicly naming organizations and individuals that are suspected of working with the Russians.
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Sutherland Institute testifies in support of establishing
new national park and 3 national monuments in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY — Today Sutherland Institute’s Matt Anderson testified before the Utah Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee in support of SCR 8, “Concurrent Resolution in Support of the Creation of a New National Park.”
This resolution supports the United States House of Representatives bill HR 4558 (Grand Staircase Escalante Enhancement Act), introduced by Rep. Chris Stewart, to establish the Escalante Canyons National Park and Preserve and the Grand Staircase, Kaiparowits and Escalante Canyons national monuments. This establishes one new national park – the first locally managed national park in U.S. history – and three distinct national monuments, all in Utah.
From Anderson’s testimony:
“Congressman Stewart’s legislation rejects a system of discontent and discord for a path of permanency and collaboration. Not only will the Grand Staircase Escalante Enhancement Act secure the future of these public lands, but it ensures that a bottom-up, not top-down, approach will guide their management.
“The bill will establish the first locally managed national park in our nation’s history. A team made up of representatives from Kane and Garfield counties will be influential voices that manage the park as well as the Grand Staircase, Kaiparowits, and Escalante Canyons national monuments. This move recognizes the importance of this land to those who live closest to it and puts them in the driver’s seat to make decisions on how to protect and preserve this beautiful area.
“The Legislature’s support for this legislation is about more than just helping to move the act through Congress. SCR 8 gives the Legislature’s vote of confidence to Kane and Garfield counties that they will wisely manage the area. This resolution isn’t about left or right … it’s about local input in land management.”
For more information or interview requests:
Kelsey Koenen Witt | Media Relations Manager
kelsey@sifreedom.org
c: 801-497-1562 (text or call) o: 801-355-1272 ext. 115
www.sutherlandinstitute.org
