Market News & Headlines >> Feedlot Placements Seen Down For Sixth Straight Month

The livestock trade expects Friday afternoon’s monthly USDA Cattle-on-Feed report to show that U.S. feedlot placements were below a year earlier for the sixth month in a row in February, with the March 1 feedlot inventory slipping to a six-year low.

Trade estimates of February feedlot placements average 94.0% of a year earlier in a range from 90.2%-96.9%, according to a Reuters News Service survey of 11 analysts. At the average of trade estimates, February placements would total 1.742 million head,  126,000 head less than a year earlier.

Pre-report estimates of the March 1 feedlot inventory average 95.5% of a year earlier in a range from 94.0%-96.2%. At the average of trade estimates, the feedlot inventory would total 11.620 million head, 573,000 head smaller than a year earlier and the lowest for the date since 2017.

Pre-report expectations for February feedlot marketings average 95.6% of a year earlier in a range from 95.0%-96.0%. At the average of trade estimates, February marketings would total 1.745 million head, 80,000 less than a year earlier and the smallest for the month in four years.