• Post to Your Wall.
 

Cattle on feed numbers down 3%

USDA says placements last month lowest since 1996; marketings were second lowest since 1996.
Compiled by staff 
Published: Oct 19, 2012
A decline in U.S. cattle inventory projections this month are expected to be supportive of prices.

USDA in its monthly cattle on feed report Friday projected cattle and calves on feed in the U.S. as of Oct. 1 totaled 10.989 million head, down 3 percent from a year ago.

Placements in feedlots during September totaled just 2.004 million head, down 19 percent from the same time last year. In fact, placements last month were the lowest on record for September since USDA started the current data series in 1996.

“There are a lot of bullish things (in this report) for live cattle prices,” said Rich Nelson, director of research at Allendale Inc. in McHenry. “It certainly should be supportive” of prices.

September marked the fourth consecutive month placements in feedlots dipped below year-ago levels.

“It certainly will tighten the live cattle supply tremendously for the first half of 2013,” Nelson said.

USDA previously projected beef supplies next year will decline by 3.7 percent.

Nelson projected the drop in beef supplies next year could be even more severe than the current USDA projection.
 
“There still is a lot of resistance to placing cattle in feedlots until profitability returns,” he said. “We’ll be facing tight supplies for at least the next several months.”

USDA on Friday also issued a Canadian cattle report that showed shipments of fed cattle from Canada to the U.S. so far this year are down 8 percent.

“That’s just confirmation that the North American beef supply is tightening up,” Nelson said.

Marketings of fed cattle in September totaled 1.598 million head, down 12 percent. The marketings number was the second-lowest on record for September since 1996.

Futures prices for cattle on Friday were $128 per hundredweight for December, $134 for February, and $138 for April.

Nelson projected cattle prices will climb higher in the wake of the latest inventory estimates.

Download file: cofd1012.pdf
Size: 163.847 KB (Kilobytes)
Created: 10/19/2012 02:32 PM
Last Modified: 10/19/2012 02:32 PM
Click here to download this file.



Permalink: Click here

Comments
Read comments from others and share your own thoughts.
Please provide the answer to the following question:

 = 
 
Search this site:   

Read More Stories
Memorial Day holiday closures
Grain markets will be closed Sunday night and Monday for Memorial Day (May 27th) and will re-open Monday night at 7:00pm CDT. Livestock futures will be closed Monday and resume trading Tuesday morning.
Read this story

Prairie Farms to host 75th anniversary events
Prairie Farms will be hosting events free to the public in honor of their 75th anniversary as well as June Dairy Month.
Read this story

NPPC fear COOL rule retaliation
The U.S. pork industry fears possible trade retaliation in two of its major markets, after USDA issued a final rule on country of origin meat labeling. We have a report from RFD Radio's Matt Kaye.
Read this story

   
NPPC fear COOL rule retaliation
Prairie Farms to host 75th anniversary events
Rainy week ahead for Illinois farmers
Memorial Day holiday closures
Immigration: The conversation
Ag groups seek to knock down EU barriers
Federal aid approved for 14 more counties
Illinois farmland values keep going higher
Southern Illinois wheat crop in generally good shape
Cash soybean basis levels fall for third day
Top 50 Tags
   
iNet Solutions Group   Powered by iNet Solutions Group   ©2013 All rights reserved.