ncba

Cattle Feedlot Inventories Close to ’19 Levels

Clint Thompson Cattle

state cattle
Image by Fabiana pfernandes from Pixabay

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its December Cattle on Feed Report. The number of cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the U.S. for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 12.0 million head on Dec. 1, 2020. This was slightly above Dec. 1, 2019. According to a story from Gary Crawford, there were no surprises in this report.

The report also noted placements in feedlots during November totaled 1.91 million head, 9% below 2019. Net placements were 1.85 million head. During November, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 520,000 head; 600-699 pounds were 460,000 head; 700-799 pounds were 400,000 head; 800-899 pounds were 306,000 head; 900-999 pounds were 130,000 head; and 1,000 pounds and greater were 90,000 head.

Marketing’s of fed cattle during November totaled 1.78 million head, 2% below 2019.