USDA Jan. 1 Cattle on Feed Report

Jan. 1 Cattle on Feed Down 3%

Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.7 million head on Jan. 1, 2023. (DTN ProphetX chart)

This article was originally published at 2:03 p.m. CST on Friday, Jan. 20. It was last updated with additional information at 2:18 p.m. CST on Friday, Jan. 20.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.7 million head on Jan. 1, 2023. The inventory was 3% below Jan. 1, 2022, USDA NASS reported on Friday.

The inventory included 7.03 million steers and steer calves, down 4% from the previous year. This group accounted for 60% of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.65 million head, down 1% from 2022.

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Placements in feedlots during December totaled 1.80 million head, 8% below 2021. Net placements were 1.75 million head. During December, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 455,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 435,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 415,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 304,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 105,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 90,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during December totaled 1.74 million head, 6% below 2021.

Other disappearance totaled 54,000 head during December, unchanged from 2021.

DTN ANALYSIS

Friday's Cattle on Feed report for Jan. 1 from USDA turned out to be largely neutral for Monday's cattle prices, according to DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman.

"The on-feed total of 11.682 million head was slightly higher than expected and down 2.9% from a year ago," Hultman said. "Dow Jones' survey of analysts were looking for an annual drop of 3.2%. Heifer and heifer calves accounted for 4.65 million head, down 1% from a year ago. The states with the largest inventory of cattle on feed are 2.77 million head in Texas, 2.60 million head in Nebraska and 2.39 million head in Kansas. Inventories in Texas and Nebraska were lower than a month ago, while inventory in Kansas increased 3%.

"USDA said December placements totaled 1.804 million head and were down 8% from a year ago, roughly as expected. As usual, the bulk of placements were below 800 pounds.

"Marketings in December totaled 1.741 million head and were down 6% from a year ago, a little less than expected in a month that saw harsh winter conditions."

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DTN subscribers can view the full Cattle on Feed reports in the Livestock Archives folder under the Markets menu. The report is also available at https://www.nass.usda.gov/….

USDA Actual Average Estimate Range
On Feed Jan. 1 97% 96.8% 96.5-97.4%
Placed in December 92% 91.5% 89.4-94.4%
Marketed in December 94% 94.7% 94.2-96.2%
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