Friday Report Will Show Trends In Cattle Sector

The USDA will release its semiannual Cattle Report Friday afternoon, and this report is drawing a lot of interest for a variety of reasons.  USDA livestock analyst Michael McConnell near the top of that list is the fact that there was not a July report last year.  Despite that USDA did issue a January version of this report earlier this year, but McConnell says the summertime edition is critical.

“We kind of get a sense from producers whether or not they're retaining females to enter into the breeding herd or get a sense of what our calf crop is for the year," McConnell said.  "All these types of things that that gives us a real. The important insight into the direction of the overall supply of the cattle and beef market.”

Difference Between Cattle Report And Cattle On Feed

That July Cattle Report will be released at noon Pacific, the same time as USDA's monthly Cattle on Feed Report is published.

“Typically, that monthly report captures about 80 to 85% of the market share of feed lots, but this report that we get semiannually, this gives us a more complete picture on the number of cattle that are being fed out in feed loss throughout the country at various sizes," McConnell said. 

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