USDA Oct. 1 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 11.4 million head on Oct. 1, 2026. The inventory was slightly below Oct. 1, 2025, USDA NASS reported on Friday.

The inventory included 7.07 million steers and steer calves, up slightly from the previous year. This group accounted for 62% of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.30 million head, down 1% from 2025.

Placements in feedlots during September totaled 1.78 million head, 12% below 2025. Net placements were 1.73 million head. Placements were the lowest for September since the series began in 1996. During September, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 360,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 260,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 385,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 422,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 255,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 95,000 head, NASS said.

Marketings of fed cattle during September totaled 1.52 million head, 7% below 2025. Marketings were the lowest for September since the series began in 1996, NASS said.

Other disappearance totaled 49,000 head during September, 4% below 2025.

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DTN subscribers can view the full Cattle on Feed report 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 Oct. 1	100%	100.3%	98.8-100.8%
Placed in September	88%	91.7%	88.1-95.1%
Marketed in September	93%	92.8%	92.5-93.3%
* Estimates compiled by Dow Jones.

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