Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 2/25/19


USDA’s latest Cattle on Feed report (a month late due to the government shutdown) showed at 1.8 percent decrease in cattle placed on feed in December, a surprise to analysts who were on average estimating placements were up 2 percent.

According to analysts at Steiner Consulting Group in the Daily Livestock Report, poor feedlot conditions likely impacted placements in November and December. Still, they noted the number was a surprise, “given that the number of feeder cattle sold in the country in December was notably higher than a year ago.”

USDA reported cattle on feed in feedlots with over 1,000-head capacity on Jan. 1, 2019, at 11.7 million head, up 1.7 percent from a year ago, compared to analysts’ average prediction the inventory would be up 2.3 percent.

Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock marketing Specialist Derrell Peel, however, noted that the comparison needs to be seen in the context of the large Jan. 1, 2018, feedlot inventory, which was up 8.3 percent year over year as dry conditions pushed more feeder cattle into feedlots at that time.

“The modest increase in the January 1, 2019 feedlot inventory is therefore still a rather large number and is the highest inventory for the month since 2012,” Peel noted in the Cow/Calf newsletter.

USDA still has some catching up to do on these monthly reports. The February Cattle on Feed report is due to be issued on March 8 and the March report will be issued on schedule on March 22.

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