Cattle on Feed Report     04/19  14:06

April 1 Cattle on Feed Up 1% From Year Ago

By DTN Staff

                      USDA Actual   Average Estimate       Range
On Feed April 1          101%           102.0%      101.6-102.5%
Placed in March           88%            92.8%        90.0-94.7%
Marketed in March         86%            89.0%        86.5-91.3%

OMAHA (DTN) -- Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter 
market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 
or more head totaled 11.8 million head on April 1, 2024. The 
inventory was 1% above April 1, 2023, USDA NASS reported on 
Friday. 

The inventory included 7.27 million steers and steer calves, up 
2% from the previous year. This group accounted for 61% of the 
total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.56 
million head, up 1% from 2023.

Placements in feedlots during March totaled 1.75 million head, 
12% below 2023. Net placements were 1.69 million head. During 
March, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 
pounds were 330,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 260,000 head, 700-
799 pounds were 460,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 466,000 head, 
900-999 pounds were 170,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater 
were 60,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during March totaled 1.71 million head, 
14% below 2023.

Other disappearance totaled 57,000 head during March, 8% above 
2023.

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DTN subscribers can view the full Cattle on Feed reports in the 
Livestock Archives folder under the Markets menu. The report is 
also available at https://www.nass.usda.gov/.