USDA released its Cattle Inventory report today. The total inventory of all cattle and calves as of 1 January is 91.1 million head; that compares to 93.8 million head, or 98 percent, of the cattle inventory on 1 January 2021. Most categories came in a little below pre-report expectations.
A key takeaway: there were more cattle on feed and fewer feeder cattle outside feedlots on 1 January compared to January 2021. For feedlots of 1,000 head or more capacity, December placements were a record at 1.96 million head, and the January inventory of 12 million was the second highest on record; those larger feed yards were 81.9 percent of the total number of cattle on feed as of 1 January, which was up slightly from 2021 at 14.7 million hea...
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...
