The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has announced that Virginia’s cattle and calf inventory was down 1 percent in 2010.

According to the Virginia Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Virginia’s cattle and calves inventory totaled 1.54 million head on Jan. 1, 2011. This is down one percent from last year's inventory of 1.55 million head.

Virginia’s inventory tied with New Mexico, ranking 20th in the United States for total number of cattle and calves, representing 1.7 percent of the total United States Inventory.

Beef cow inventory, at 675,000 head, was up 2 percent from last year's total of 665,000 head. Milk cow inventory totaled 95,000 head, remaining constant with inventory from Jan. 1, 2010.

Beef replacement heifers totaled 90,000 head on Jan. 1, 2011, down 20,000 from last year’s total of 110,000 head. Milk replacement heifer inventory also decreased, totaling 49,000 head, a decline of 1,000 head from last year.

Virginia’s inventory of steers 500 pounds and over totaled 160,000 head, down 9 percent from the 2010 total of 175,000 head. Total inventory of all calves under 500 pounds was 370,000 head, an increase of 20,000 head from Jan. 1, 2010.

The 2010 calf crop totaled 650,000 head, down 40,000 head from the 2009 calf crop.