According to USDA’s semiannual cattle inventory report, the U.S. beef cow herd continued to expand throughout the first six months of 2015. The report showed that as of July 1st, 2015, the beef cow herd was 2.5% above a year ago while the number of beef replacement heifers was 6.5% higher than the 2014 figure. The total beef cow herd of 30.5 million head was up 0.75 million head from the prior year while beef replacement heifers finished the year at 4.90 million head, up 0.30 million head from the prior year. The number of beef replacement heifers increased for the third consecutive year and finished the year at a nine year high. On a heifer replacement per beef cow basis, the Jul ’15 figure of 0.161 increased to a 21 year high.