USDA released the monthly Cattle on Feed report today; it was right in line with analysts’ pre-report consensus expectations making it neutral and an indication that the market is stabilizing. Following is a summary and breakdown of today’s report.
As we noted yesterday in the preview of the Cattle on Feed report, even though inventory was up from last year, it was down 81,000 head from last month. Placements were also down from last month and the lowest since July, which could be supportive of the feeder cattle market into the spring. Looking at inventory by state for states with more than 1 million head feedlot inventories shows Texas and Kansas up from year ago levels, and Colorado and Nebraska down.
Other signif...
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...
