US cattle placements into feedlots fell more sharply than traders expected in September, tightening the outlook for fed cattle supplies in the months ahead, according to the US Department of Agriculture's latest Cattle on Feed figures.
USDA counted 11.372 million cattle on feed on 1 October, 99.6 percent of a year earlier and below the 100.3 percent the trade had expected. September placements totalled 1.777 million head, 87.9 percent of last year, against expectations of 91.7 percent.
Marketings, the cattle sent from feedlots to slaughter, were 1.524 million head, 93.4 percent of last year and slightly above the 92.8 percent trade estimate. Both placements and marketings were the lowest September totals since the series began in 1996.
Steers and steer calves on feed totalled 7.072 million head, essentially unchanged from a year earlier, while heifers and heifer calves fell 1 percent, or 55,000 head, to 4.30 million. A smaller share of heifers in feedlots can mean more are being kept back for breeding, but the change is too small to show a strong rebuilding of the national herd.
Fewer placements now point to fewer cattle available for feedlots and slaughter in the coming months.
The report was produced by Tony St. James for All Ag News.
Photo: Billy Hathorn / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: All Ag News
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