Friday, October 19, 2018

USDA reports lower cattle placements

The USDA says placements onto feed during September 2018 were below what many analysts had been expecting. Placements were 5% lower than a year ago at 2.051 million head, breaking a four-month string of increases, as pasture conditions improved in some areas and most producers continued to take losses on outgoing cattle, many of which were pulled ahead to meet packer demand. Prior to the report, the average of analysts’ estimates was for placements to be about steady with September 2017. Many of those cattle will be marketed between March and August 2019. By weight, placements of cattle weighing less than 600 pounds were 425,000 head, 600 to 699 pound placements were 330,000, and 700 to 799 pound placements were 430,000 head, while 800 to 899 pound placements totaled 466,000 head, placements of cattle weighing 900 to 999 pounds were 280,000 head, and 1,000 pound and heavier placements were 120,000 head. September marketings were 4% lower than last year at 1.719 million head and the total number of cattle on feed as of October 1st was up 5% on the year at 11.4 million, hitting a new record high for the month. Texas had the most cattle on feed, followed by Nebraska...MORE

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