No signs of cattle herd expansion and tighter supplies were the takeaways from USDA’s latest “Cattle on Feed” report. Released on Friday, the report showed feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.0 million head on August 1, 2023, 2% below August 1, 2022. While this number was in line with the pre-report average estimate, it was the placements number that surprised the trade. July feedlot placements were lower than expected at 1.62 million head, 8% below 2022. Analysts had expected only a 5% decline from year-ago levels.
USDA livestock economist Shayle Shagam says,…
