Cattle on Feed Report     01/24  14:06

Jan. 1 Cattle on Feed Down 1% From Year Ago, Placements Down 3%

By DTN Staff

                      USDA Actual   Average Estimate       Range

On Feed Jan. 1            99%            99.8%       99.3-100.8%
Placed in December        97%           101.8%       98.8-107.1%
Marketed in December     101%           101.3%      100.9-102.0%

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 11.8 million head on Jan. 1, 2025. The 
inventory was 1% below Jan. 1, 2024, USDA NASS reported on 
Friday. 

The inventory included 7.25 million steers and steer calves, up 
1% from the previous year. This group accounted for 61% of the 
total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.58 
million head, down 3% from 2024.

Placements in feedlots during December totaled 1.64 million 
head, 3% below 2023. Net placements were 1.58 million head. 
During December, placements of cattle and calves weighing less 
than 600 pounds were 395,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 380,000 
head, 700-799 pounds were 375,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 
287,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 115,000 head, and 1,000 pounds 
and greater were 90,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during December totaled 1.74 million 
head, 1% above 2023.

Other disappearance totaled 59,000 head during December, 2% 
below 2023.

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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/.