Cattle on Feed Report     10/22  14:06

Oct. 1 Cattle on Feed Down 1% 

By DTN Staff

                      USDA Actual   Average Estimate       Range
On Feed Oct. 1            99%           99.3%         98.9-99.9%
Placed in September       97%          101.4%        98.8-103.3%
Marketed in September     97%           97.2%         97.0-98.9%

This article was originally published at 2:06 p.m. CDT on 
Friday, Oct. 22. It was last updated at 2:24 p.m. on Friday, 
Oct. 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 11.6 million head on Oct. 1, 2021. The 
inventory was 1% below Oct. 1, 2020. This is the second-highest 
Oct. 1 inventory since the series began in 1996, USDA NASS 
reported on Friday. 

The inventory included 7.07 million steers and steer calves, 
down 3% from the previous year. This group accounted for 61% of 
the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 
4.49 million head, up 2% from 2020.

Placements in feedlots during September totaled 2.16 million 
head, 3% below 2020. Net placements were 2.11 million head. 
During September, placements of cattle and calves weighing less 
than 600 pounds were 435,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 360,000 
head, 700-799 pounds were 495,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 
498,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 275,000 head, and 1,000 pounds 
and greater were 100,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during September totaled 1.79 million 
head, 3% below 2020.

Other disappearance totaled 58,000 head during September, 
unchanged from 2020.

DTN ANALYSIS

"The Oct. 1 Cattle on Feed report showed total cattle on feed at 
11.55 million head. This is slightly below pre-report estimates, 
and although it is still the second-highest October on-feed 
number on record, it is likely to be viewed slightly positive, 
as traders seemed to be expecting the worst following the 
bearish market shift seen after the September," said DTN 
Contributing Analyst Rick Kment. 

"Cattle placements during September totaled 1.8 million head, at 
97% of year ago levels. This is a significant decrease from pre-
report estimates and is likely to be viewed as bullish to the 
market early Monday morning. The aggressive market pullback in 
feeder cattle trade over the last two days seemed to anticipate 
another bearish placement figure in the on-feed report. Even 
though placement numbers continue to grow month over month, it 
is typical that placements continue to increase through the 
November report, focusing on traditional sales schedules that 
seem to be regaining momentum following unusual patterns last 
year due to the pandemic. 

"Although the shift in overall cattle levels is not 
significantly different than expected, the overall positive 
impact on trade over the next several days is likely to spark 
increased commercial and noncommercial buying in both live 
cattle and feeder cattle markets."

**

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/.