US cattle herd to fall to 60-year low. But does it matter?

Data on Friday are expected to show the US cattle herd at its lowest since Henry Truman was president, and Queen Elizabeth II was crowned.

The US Department of Agriculture is expected, in a twice-a-year cattle inventory report, to show the domestic herd starting 2013 1.8% smaller than it began last year.

That implies a herd of 89.1m head – the lowest since 1952, and down nearly one-third on a high reached in 1975.