July 29, 2008
US cattle on feed down 4 percent
US cattle and calves raised on feed for the slaughter market at feedlots with capacity of at least 1,000 numbered 10.3 million heads on July 1, 4 percent lower than last year.
Steers and steer calves, which account for 62 percent of the total, was down 5 percent from last year, with current numbers at 6.43 million. Heifers and heifer calves totaled 3.82 million, a decrease of 3 percent from 2007.
Cattle in feedlots during June totaled 1.51 million, 9 percent below 2007.
Sales of fed cattle for June stood at 1.97 million, 8 percent below 2007, the lowest for the month of June since 1996.
Other disappearance totaled 60,000 during June, 15 percent above 2007.
Taking into account all feedlots in US, the number of cattle on feed as of July 1 was 11.7 million, down 5 percent from last year.