US Feedlot Inventory Smaller Than Expected
US - US cattle feedlot inventories fell by one per cent as of 1 December compared with a year earlier, to total 11.28 million head, according to the latest USDA Cattle on Feed report.
22 December 2009
1 minute read
Placements during November, at 1.85 million head, were eight per cent lower than a year earlier, and were 3.7 per cent fewer than the average of pre-report estimates.
The inventory report confirmed the trend of heavier cattle being placed on feed. Placements of feeder cattle weighing 272 kilograms or lighter were down 9.7 per cent compared to a year ago. Conversely, placements of cattle weighing 363 kilograms or heavier were 1.3 per cent higher than a year ago.
The reduced placement activity witnessed during November is likely to be sustained in December, and is likely to result in a year-on-year decline in fed cattle slaughter in the second quarter of 2010.
According to the USDA, marketings of fed cattle during November totalled 1.63 million, four per cent above 2008 yet the third lowest since the series began in 1996.
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