USDA released its monthly cattle on feed report today; the inventory of cattle and calves on feed on feedlots with 1,000 head capacity or more on 1 June was 11.6 million, or 97 percent of June 2022, in line with expectations. That total matched the 1 May and 1 April inventory. This is now the ninth consecutive month where on-feed inventories are lower than year-ago levels.
And on the topics of streaks, for the third month in a row, placements came in above expectations; actual placements were 105 percent of last year with a pre-report consensus expectation of 102 percent.
When it comes to analysts’ forecasts on placement, that is always the category with the most variance as marketings follow slaughter. Heifer slaugh...
What You Need to Know Today: Crude oil prices extended their rally today, supported by several developments, including escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure and growing concerns about supply disruptions. The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to remove 50 perc...
Key Takeaways: The agricultural trade surplus has become a sizable deficit: the balance swung from a $40.1 billion surplus in 2011 to a $40.7 billion deficit in 2025. Imports kept growing while exports lost momentum: between 2020 and 2025, agricultural imports increased 45 percent, compa...
USDA released its October Cattle on Feed report Friday, showing 11.4 million cattle in feedlots with capacity for 1,000 head or more, slightly below last year. September placements were the lowest for the month since records began in 1996, marking the third consecutive month of placements sett...
Total Red Meat & Poultry September 2026 total red meat and poultry stocks totaled 1.97 billion pounds, down 1.4 percent from August despite typically increasing 0.8 percent during the month, and were 1.5 percent below September 2025 levels. The decline pushed total inventories to a new five...
