Illinois, U.S. farm report

ILLINOIS
Cattle and calves
The total number of cattle and calves in Illinois on Jan. 1 was 1.1 million head, 6 percent below last year’s total. This is the lowest cattle inventory on record for Illinois.
Beef cow inventory was down 10 percent from 2010 to 352,000, while milk cows were down 3 percent to 98,000. This information is based on a recent cattle survey conducted by the Illinois office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Milk production
Milk production in Illinois during December 2010 totaled 161 million pounds, a decrease of 1 million pounds from December 2009.
The number of milk cows on farms averaged 98,000 head for December, which was 3,000 head lower than a year ago. Milk per cow averaged 1,640 pounds, which was 40 pounds above December 2009.
Sheep and lambs
The total number of sheep and lambs in Illinois on Jan. 1, 2011, was 56,000, which was 12 percent below last year’s total of 64,000 head.
Breeding inventory, at 47,000 head, decreased 15 percent, while market inventory stayed steady at 9,000 head for 2011.
Illinois 2010 lamb crop increased 1,000 from last year to 51,000 head.
Agricultural prices
The January index of prices received by Illinois farmers for all crops was 170 percent of the base, up 10 points from the revised December figure and 35 points above January 2010.
Crop prices increased for all commodities.

UNITED STATES
Cattle and calves
All cattle and calves in the United States, as of Jan. 1, totaled 92.6 million head, 1 percent below the 93.9 million recorded a year earlier. This is the lowest January inventory of all cattle and calves since the 91.2 million on hand in 1958.
All cows and heifers that have calved, numbering 40 million, were down 1 percent from the 40.5 million last Jan. 1. Beef cows, at 30.9 million, were down 2 percent from Jan. 1, 2010. Milk cows, at 9.1 million, were up 1 percent from Jan. 1, 2010.
Milk production
Estimated milk production in the U.S. during December 2010 totaled 16.2 billion pounds, up 389 million pounds from December 2009.
Production per cow averaged 1,769 pounds for December 2010, which was 32 pounds above December 2009.
The number of milk cows on farms in the U.S. was 9.1 million head in December, an increase of 54,000 head from December 2009.
Sheep and lambs
All sheep and lamb inventory in the United States on Jan. 1, 2011, totaled 5.53 million head, down 2 percent from 2010. Breeding sheep inventory decreased to 4.12 million head on Jan. 1, 2011, down 2 percent from 4.19 million head a year ago.
Market sheep and lambs on Jan. 1, 2011, totaled 1.42 million head, down 1 percent from a year ago.
The 2010 lamb crop of 3.6 million head was down 2 percent from 2009.
Agricultural prices
The U.S. preliminary index of prices for all farm products received by farmers was 169 percent of base. That was an increase of 11 points from December.
The crop index was up 20 points, but the livestock index was unchanged. Producers received higher prices for corn, cattle, wheat and soybeans. Lower prices were received for eggs, turkeys, milk and broilers.