Aug. 1 USDA Cattle on Feed Report

By DTN Staff

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 11.1 million head on Aug. 1, 2021. The inventory was 2% below August 1, 2020, USDA NASS reported on Friday.

Placements in feedlots during July totaled 1.74 million head, 8% below 2020. Net placements were 1.68 million head. During July, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 375,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 255,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 410,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 424,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 205,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 70,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during July totaled 1.90 million head, 5% below 2020.

Other disappearance totaled 55,000 head during July, 4% below 2020.

DTN ANALYSIS

"Cattle on feed totals are seen at 11.07 million head in the nation's feedlots, which is a 2% drop from levels seen Aug. 1, 2020. This was generally along expectations," said DTN Contributing Analyst Rick Kment. "Current on-feed numbers are the lowest since September 2020, signaling that, overall, cattle on feed numbers may be at or nearing seasonal lows. The indication that tight supplies may have been confirmed, along with the focus on potentially strong beef demand, may help drive additional support.

"Feeder cattle placements fell 8% from year-ago levels. This drop in placements is moderately below pre-report estimates, which is likely to further support the market Monday morning. Even though placements are well below year-ago levels, cattle placements in the nation's feedyards of 1,000 head or greater increased 62,000 head since June. This also indicates that even though strong placements took place earlier in the year, further placements continue to increase going into fall.

"Marketed cattle in July were reported at 95% of year-ago levels. This could create additional uncertainty, as fewer cattle than expected moved out of yards and to packers. This is likely to be a result of limited cash price support, which may put short-term pressure on market-ready cattle over the next few weeks."

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/….

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	USDA Actual	Average Estimate	Range
On Feed Aug. 1	98%	98.3%	97.7-98.8%
Placed in July	92%	93.2%	90.7-95.5%
Marketed in July	95%	96.5%	95.2-97.0%

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