Tomorrow, USDA will release two important reports: the monthly Cattle on Feed Report and the quarterly Hogs and Pigs Inventory. Analysts’ pre-report estimates peg the total number of cattle on feed as of 1 September at 98 percent of a year ago. The range of estimates was between 97.2 and 98.7 percent. The implied inventory of cattle on feed would be 11.2 million head. WPI’s own estimate is lighter at 11.06 million head, or 97 percent of last year.
The 1 September inventory in 2020 was the largest on record given the COVID backlog of slaughter capacity earlier in the year. Seasonally, September is the low point for cattle on feed inventories; the number of cattle in feed yards starts to increase in Q4, with...
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...
