Cattle on Feed Report Summary

By DTN Staff

This article was originally posted at 2:05 p.m. CST. It was updated at 2:42 p.m. CST.

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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, 2019. The inventory was 2% above Jan. 1, 2018, USDA reported Friday.

The inventory included 7.28 million steers and steer calves, down 1% from the previous year. This group accounted for 62% of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.41 million head, up 6% from 2018.

Placements in feedlots during December totaled 1.77 million head, 2% below 2018. Net placements were 1.69 million head. During December, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 445,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 460,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 402,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 285,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 90,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 85,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during December totaled 1.74 million head, 1% below 2017.

Other disappearance totaled 75,000 head during December, 1% above 2017.

"All areas are within estimated ranges, but the fact that this report is delayed by a month is expected to negate most of the market impact due to the historical nature of the report," said DTN Analyst Rick Kment. "The Feb 1 Cattle on Feed report will be released on March 8, and will be more closely watched, as it will have more up-to-date information."

To view the full Cattle on Feed report, visit https://www.nass.usda.gov

	USDA Actual	Average Guess	Range
Cattle on Feed:
On Feed Jan. 1	102.0%	102.2%	101.3-102.6%
Placed in December	98.0%	101.4%	95.1-103.8%
Marketed in December	99.0%	99.7%	99.3-101.9%

(AG)

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