USDA Cattle on Feed Report Preview

OMAHA (DTN) -- Friday's March 1 USDA Cattle on Feed report looks as though it should be bullish, as pre-report estimates came in sharply lower than a year ago.

What's likely affecting the placement data more than anything is the continued absence of Mexican feeder cattle supplies compared to years past. It's important to note that although Mexican feeder cattle imports resumed in February after the country reopened the border following the New World screwworm case, imports from Mexico have remained drastically lower than in years past for several different reasons. The two biggest reasons are the continued topic of tariffs and the fact that Mexico doesn't possess enough cattle to continue to export them to the U.S. as aggressively as they did in 2024.

Nevertheless, it's most likely that if Friday's actual USDA data comes in close to what the pre-estimate reports indicate, then traders will likely find the report to be bullish.

USDA will release its March 1 Cattle on Feed report at 2 p.m. CDT on Friday.

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	USDA Actual	Average Estimate	Range
On Feed March 1		98.3%	97.0-99.0%
Placed in February		85.4%	79.1-90.5%
Marketed in February		92.0%	91.2-93.2%

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

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