November 22, 2006

Record US cattle on feed for Nov 1

The latest US cattle on feed statistics released by the USDA revealed that the number of cattle on feed as of Nov 1 reached 11.96 million head, around 4.2 percent above the same time last year, marking the highest level for this time of year since the USDA cattle on feed series commenced in 1996.

Following escalating corn prices, placements in US feedlots during October fell 13 percent on the same time last year, to 2.43 million head. According to Cattle-Fax, if placements continued to run below year ago levels and marketings remained around 2 percent higher than a year ago, the number on feed could be below year ago levels by no later than Mar 1, next year.