Cattle on Feed Report     10/25  14:44

Oct. 1 Cattle on Feed Down Slightly From Year Ago

By DTN Staff

                      USDA Actual   Average Estimate       Range
On Feed Oct. 1           100%            99.8%       99.1-100.1%
Placed in September       98%            95.6%        94.2-99.0%
Marketed in September    102%           101.6%       98.1-103.4%

This article was originally published at 2:05 p.m. CDT on 
Friday, Oct. 25. It was last updated with additional information 
at 2:44 p.m. CDT on Friday, Oct. 25.

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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 11.6 million head on Oct. 1, 2024. The 
inventory was slightly below Oct. 1, 2023, USDA NASS reported on 
Friday.

The inventory included 7.00 million steers and steer calves, up 
1% from the previous year. This group accounted for 60% of the 
total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.60 
million head, down 1% from 2023.

Placements in feedlots during September totaled 2.16 million 
head, 2% below 2023. Net placements were 2.10 million head. 
During September, placements of cattle and calves weighing less 
than 600 pounds were 430,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 330,000 
head, 700-799 pounds were 465,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 
526,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 305,000 head, and 1,000 pounds 
and greater were 100,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during September totaled 1.70 million 
head, 2% above 2023.

Other disappearance totaled 56,000 head during September, 2% 
below 2023.

DTN ANALYSIS

"Friday's Oct. 1 Cattle on Feed report will likely be viewed in 
one of two ways," said DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart. 
"There's a chance that traders will find the report slightly 
bearish, solely because the report's actual data came in higher 
than analysts' estimates. However, I hope that traders will opt 
to dig deeper into the report and find it to be neutral, as, 
overall, that's what the data shows.
 
"Regarding the placement data, I don't find it alarming that 
placements during September totaled 2,156,000 head, as from a 
ground-level perspective, it makes logical sense. Drought 
conditions have spread across the vast majority of the U.S., and 
Mexican feeder cattle imports thus far through 2024 have totaled 
1,074,937 head, which is up 16.6% compared to a year ago. Not to 
mention, the fall feeder cattle run is fully underway, and a 
large percentage of the calves and feeders that are being 
marketed through sale barns, video auctions and bought by 
country buyers are working their way into feedlots as, once 
again, drought pressures are limiting some fall grazing.
 
"I don't believe the market will be fixated on this report for 
long on Monday, as, thankfully, there are enough supportive 
market fundamentals at play that are helping drive the complex 
higher (fed cash cattle market, beef demand, slight uptick in 
throughput)."


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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/.