USDA Cattle on Feed Report Preview

OMAHA (DTN) -- Friday's Jan. 1 USDA Cattle on Feed report is likely going to demand our attention, as the placement estimates range from 98.8 to 107.1% compared to a year ago.

There are really two arguments to be made as to why the data ranges so drastically. On the one hand, one could argue that with the historically low cow herd and with prices so strong earlier this year, placements happened earlier than normal, which justifies the slight year-over-year decline. But while that is true, it's also true that feeder cattle prices were extremely high in December, which encouraged producers to market any calves/feeders that they had available to sell, which could contribute to the increase of placements when compared to a year ago.

So long as the placement data doesn't come in on the upper end of pre-report estimates, Friday's Cattle on Feed report will likely be found to be neutral.

USDA will release its Jan. 1 Cattle on Feed report at 2 p.m. CST on Friday.

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	USDA Actual	Average Estimate	Range
On Feed Jan. 1		99.8%	99.3-100.8%
Placed in December		101.8%	98.8-107.1%
Marketed in December		101.3%	100.9-102.0%

ShayLe Stewart can be reached at ShayLe.Stewart@dtn.com

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