USDA will release its Cattle on Feed report tomorrow. Analysts’ pre-report estimates peg the total number of cattle on feed as of 1 May at 101.5 percent of a year ago. The range of estimates was extremely tight, coming in between 101.2 and 101.8 percent. The implied inventory of cattle on feed would be 11.9 million head.
Last May, the cattle on feed inventory was the second highest on record so inventories are going to be large, but the real lever is the number of cattle coming in behind these large numbers, especially as cow slaughter is higher than normal. It is a long term bullish scenario for cattle supply and demand per se, but the overall inflationary environment and its impacts on domestic consumer beef demand and demand for...
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...
