USDA released the monthly Cattle on Feed report today. Total inventory and marketings were as expected, but placements were up above the pre-report consensus.
For context, all the projected ranges of estimates for today’s report were relatively tight – the consensus total inventory on feed was estimated to be between 99 and 100 percent of last year and marketings were expected to be between 108 and 109 percent of last year. Even the most difficult to predict category, placements, was in a relatively tight range of 102 to 105 percent. Recall, the consensus estimate comes from an Olympic average – eliminating the high and the low among the analyst’s forecast. Placements actually came in above the highes...
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...
