USDA Aug. 1 Cattle on Feed Report

23 Aug 2024

By DTN Staff

This article was originally published at 2:03 p.m. CDT on Friday, Aug. 23. It was last updated with additional information at 2:43 p.m. CDT on Friday, Aug. 23.

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 11.1 million head on Aug. 1, 2024. The inventory was slightly above Aug. 1, 2023, USDA NASS reported on Friday.

Placements in feedlots during July totaled 1.70 million head, 6% above 2023. Net placements were 1.65 million head. During July, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 390,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 265,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 385,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 387,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 200,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 75,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during July totaled 1.86 million head, 8% above 2023.

Other disappearance totaled 56,000 head during July, 14% below 2023.

DTN ANALYSIS

"Friday's Cattle on Feed report came out almost exactly as pre-report estimates forecast -- other than the placements category, of course," said DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart.

"We knew heading into Friday that the Cattle on Feed report was going to be a bear to get around, given that placements were most likely going to be higher than a year ago, but you never know what the report is going to reveal until the veil is pulled back.

"Let's first start with the data.

"Friday's data for cattle placed in July totaled 1,702,000 head -- up 6% compared to a year ago. That may seem alarming (especially given that analysts only expected placements to be up 4% compared to a year ago). But comparing this year's data set to last year's isn't like comparing apples to apples -- it's more like comparing apples to apes.

"It's important to keep in perspective that last year's August Cattle on Feed report showed placements in July 2023 to be down 8% compared to 2022 -- totaling 1,618,000 head. But the August 2022 Cattle on Feed report showed that placements in July 2022 totaled 1,765,000 head -- which is 63,000 head more than what Friday's data showed, or 3.7% more cattle placed.

"If we take a step back and remember the market's environment last year, cattlemen were plagued with drought and market cattle early to avoid being short grass. That was a completely different reality than the one in which the market is currently wading through, as cattlemen have mostly been blessed with ample feed resources and were highly incentivized this spring and summer to market their calves/feeders as prices were historically high. And it would be negligent to also overlook the fact that Mexican feeder cattle imports are up 27% year to date.

"Even though we understand the data and realize that comparing the placement trends of 2024 to 2023 isn't perfect, traders are still likely going to react negatively to the report on Monday, as they care more about how the actual data compared to pre-report estimates."

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/….