Cattle liquidation delay has implications for pork, poultry USDA's latest cattle inventory report showed a smaller herd, but perhaps not small enough given long-term trends. With higher feed costs, 2021 will be very interesting for beef, pork and poultry producers. Feb 05, 2021 The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported last week that beef cattle inventories were slightly smaller than a year ago, but given long-term market trends, there may yet be too many cows producing too many calves to keep producers profitable over the long haul. Couple that with rising feed costs and a shifting policy situation in Washington, and it’s an interesting time — to put it mildly — to be in the animal protein business.