USDA: Cattle On Feed Shows 1% Drop

The February Cattle on Feed Report shows another reduction in U.S. cattle and calves in feed lots.  USDA livestock analyst Mike McConnell said the overall inventory this month came in at 11.72 million, which is 1% lower than a year ago.  Despite the lower year-over-year inventory, he noted there are signs of both increased placements of cattle in feedlots in January, as well as marketings for fed cattle for the month.

“For feedlots that are more than 1,000 head, they placed 1.82 million head of cattle for feeding, that's 2% higher than a year ago.  For marketing, they marketed 1.87 million head of cattle, which is 1% higher than a year ago.”

McConnell said strong placement pace in January occurred despite the import of Mexican cattle not taking place during the month, the pace driven by high cattle prices and strong demand.

“I think overall looking at the published industry expectations for what outside analysts were expecting to report, all the expectations were first squarely in line with what this report came out,” McConnell said.

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