Cattle feedlots are beginning to fill again, according to the August Cattle on Feed Report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The total inventory is 11.284 million head for the United States on August 1, which marks a 1.5 percent increase year-over-year, about double the 0.7 percent increase analysts’ expected.
“The most significant figure in this month’s report was the placements figure. At 1.893 million head, July placements were considerably higher than anybody’s pre-report expectations,” John Anderson, the head of the University of Arkansas’ agribusiness department, told Magnolia Reporter. “This is the highest July placements figure since 2011.”
New placements came in at 11 percent over 2019, well above what analysts expected.
“If progress in August has come close to matching July, the backlog of fed cattle that resulted from COVID disruptions should by now be just about taken care of,” he said. “That should be good news for the cattle market heading into fall.”
You can find more on the report here.