Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter in US feedlots of 1,000 head or more totalled 11.163 million head on 1 September 2026, the Department of Agriculture said in its monthly Cattle on Feed report — only slightly above a year earlier, in line with the 1.7% rise that a Reuters poll of analysts had expected.

The month's flows were historic. Placements into feedlots during August totalled 1.617 million head, the lowest for any August since the data series began in 1996; the previous low was 1.632 million in August 2015. Net placements were 1.57 million head. Marketings of fed cattle during August, at 1.519 million head, were also a record low for the month, and August marketings ran 3% below a year ago. Other disappearance totalled 52,000 head, 2% above 2025, as high temperatures kept troubling the Plains into late summer.

Analysts had expected placements down 3.3% and marketings down 4.0%, reflecting a trend of holding cattle on feed longer to offset lower inventories — the arithmetic of a herd at multi-decade lows.

Markets were subdued ahead of the report. Cattle futures had bounced from ten-month lows in early September but came under pressure this week from lacklustre boxed-beef prices, and what little cash trade was reported was slightly below the previous week's average. On the day, October live cattle closed $0.275 higher at $215.925 and November feeder cattle lost $0.65 to close at $318.00.

For beef buyers the report reads as tight supply for months to come: fewer cattle placed now means fewer finished cattle next spring, on top of a national herd that USDA's July count put at 94.2 million head.

Source: Pro Farmer