Cattle on Feed Report     09/22  14:37

Sept. 1 Cattle on Feed Down 2%

By DTN Staff

                      USDA Actual   Average Estimate       Range

On Feed Sept. 1           98%           97.8%         97.2-98.6%
Placed in August          95%           94.8%         92.0-98.1%
Marketed in August        94%           94.4%         92.2-94.7%

This article was originally published at 2:06 p.m. CDT on 
Friday, Sept. 22. It was last updated with additional 
information at 2:37 p.m. CDT on Friday, Sept. 22.

**

OMAHA (DTN) -- Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter 
market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 
or more head totaled 11.1 million head on Sept. 1, 2023. The 
inventory was 2% below Sept. 1, 2022, USDA NASS reported on 
Friday.

Placements in feedlots during August totaled 2.00 million head, 
5% below 2022. Net placements were 1.95 million head. During 
August, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 
pounds were 420,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 305,000 head, 700-
799 pounds were 455,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 488,000 head, 
900-999 pounds were 245,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater 
were 90,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during August totaled 1.88 million 
head, 6% below 2022.

Other disappearance totaled 55,000 head during August, 4% above 
2022.

DTN ANALYSIS

"Friday's Sept. 1 Cattle on Feed report comes with a sigh of 
relief for cattlemen and traders, as the report came with no 
surprises and supports the market's strong fundamental outlook," 
said DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart.

"The big question in Friday's report was: Where will the August 
placement data land, exactly? With analysts having a wide spread 
in their estimates, (ranging anywhere from 92.0% to 98.1% 
compared to a year ago) there was a mixed consensus on what 
placement data would be. But when looking through the report 
thoroughly, it's evident that there were fewer cattle placed in 
August, as the market simply has fewer cattle to offer, 
especially following the big placements seen in June and July. 
The only states that saw an increase in placements compared to a 
year ago were Idaho (up 7%), Kansas (up 3%), Texas (up 2%) and 
Washington (up 13%). And it was also interesting to note that 
when looking at the placement data from a weight group 
perspective, not one single division in Friday's report 
surpassed that of a year ago. That again emphasizes the fact 
that there are simply fewer cattle in today's market than there 
were a year ago.  
 
"All in all, Friday's Cattle on Feed report should be viewed as 
another favorable report to the market, as no surprises were 
found, and the data came as expected. And when looking to the 
fall feeder cattle run that's expected to really take off in the 
next couple of weeks, Friday's data should be viewed as 
encouraging news to cow-calf producers, as they are again 
reassured that their calves should be worth considerably more 
than what they sold for a year ago."

**

DTN subscribers can view the full Cattle on Feed reports in the 
Livestock Archives folder under the Markets menu. The report is 
also available at https://www.nass.usda.gov/.