The total number of cattle and calves in Illinois on Jan. 1 was 1.07 million head, which is 3 percent below last year's total, and the lowest cattle inventory on record for the state.
Beef cow inventory was down 6 percent from 2011, to 331,000, while milk cows were up 1 percent, to 99,000.
Nationally, the number of cattle and calves was also down. As of Jan. 1, the number of cattle and calves was 90.8 million head, 2 percent below the 92.7 million recorded on Jan. 1, 2011.