Market News & Headlines >> Smaller January Feedlot Placements Expected

The delayed February Cattle-on-Feed report USDA will release on Friday afternoon is expected to peg January feedlot placements below a year earlier and show the Feb. 1 U.S. feedlot inventory was only slightly larger than a year earlier. 

Trade estimates of the Feb. 1 feedlot inventory average 100.2% of a year earlier in a range from 99.1%-100.6%, according to a Reuters News Service survey of 10 analysts.  At the average of trade estimates the Feb. 1 feedlot inventory would total 11.647 million head, up 17,000 from a year earlier. 

Pre-report estimates of January feedlot placements average 93.5% of a year earlier in a range from 87.0%-95.9%. At the average of trade estimates, January placements would total 1.934 million head, 134,000 head below a year earlier, and would be the smallest for the month in three years. 

Trade expectations for January feedlot marketings average 102.4% of a year earlier in a range from 101.5%-103.0%.  At the average of trade estimates January marketings would total 1.903 million head, 45,000 above a year earlier, and would be the largest for the month in 16 years.