The latest report from the Agriculture Department reveals that US cattle inventories on feed as of July 1 have decreased by 1.8% compared to the previous year, which is less than what analysts had predicted. The total number of cattle on feedlots is estimated to be around 11.2 million. Analysts had expected a larger decline of 2.4% in inventories for this period.
Although the overall numbers are down, placements of cattle on feed have risen slightly. Approximately 1.68 million head were logged through July 1, representing a decrease of 2.7% from the previous month. This is slightly higher than the expected decline of 2.2% predicted by analysts.
Meanwhile, the USDA reported that fed cattle marketed for the month ending July 1 amounted to 1.96 million head, a decrease of 5.1% from last year’s total. Analysts had anticipated marketings to fall by 4.7% compared to the previous month.
In response to this news, the most active cattle contract trading on the CME closed Friday’s session down by 0.5% at $1.81775 per pound, while lean hog futures finished down 0.6% at 84.25 cents per pound.
For more information and related data, you can search “USDA Monthly Cattle on Feed Data” on Dow Jones NewsPlus.
–By Kirk Maltais
