Market News & Headlines >> Feb. 1 Feedlot Inventory Seen Nearly Steady

Friday’s monthly USDA Cattle on Feed report is expected to show the Feb. 1 U.S. feedlot inventory was little changed from a year earlier, with slightly lower placements of cattle into feedlots during January offset by slower feedlot marketings. 

Trade estimates of the supply of cattle on feed as of Feb. 1 average 99.9% of a year earlier in a range from 99.2%-102.2%, according to a Reuters News Service survey of 10 livestock analysts. At the average of estimates, the Feb. 1 feedlot inventory (12-state) would be 10.702 million head, just 11,000 head below a year earlier, but the second smallest in the past 17 years. 

Pre-report estimates of January placements average 99.0% in a range from 97.8%-101.4% of a year earlier. At the average of trade estimates, January placements would equal 1.771 million head, 18,000 head below a year earlier.   

Trade expectations for January feedlot marketings average 98.4% in a range from 96.0%-102.6%. At the average of trade estimates, January marketings would total 1.599 million head, 26,000 below a year earlier.