December 24, 2013

US cattle on feed down 5% in December

On December 1, US cattle and calves on feed in feedlots with 1,000 or more head totalled 10.7 million head, down 5% from a year ago, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

NASS noted that the inventory is the second-lowest for December 1 since 1996.

November placements dropped 3% in November to 1.88 million, according to NASS. During November, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 585,000, 600-699 pounds were 510,000, 700-799 pounds were 362,000, and 800 pounds and greater were 425,000.

Marketings of fed cattle during November totalled 1.68 million, a 5% decrease compared to November 2012. Other disappearance totalled fell 17% to 73,000 during November.