Cattle on Feed Report     03/20  15:48

March 1 Cattle on Feed Down Slightly From Year Ago

By DTN Staff

                      USDA Actual   Average Estimate*      Range

On Feed March 1          100%            99.2%       98.5-100.0%
Placed in February       104%            99.0%       96.3-105.0%
Marketed in February      93%            92.3%        91.8-92.9%

* Estimates compiled by Dow Jones.

This article was originally published at 2:06 p.m. CDT on 
Friday, March 20. It was last updated with additional 
information at 2:56 p.m. CDT on Friday, March 20.

**

OMAHA (DTN) -- Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter 
market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 
or more head totaled 11.5 million head on March 1, 2026. The 
inventory was slightly below March 1, 2025, USDA NASS reported 
on Friday.

Placements in feedlots during February totaled 1.61 million 
head, 4% above 2025. Net placements were 1.56 million head. 
During February, placements of cattle and calves weighing less 
than 600 pounds were 305,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 280,000 
head, 700-799 pounds were 445,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 
396,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 130,000 head, and 1,000 pounds 
and greater were 55,000 head, according to NASS.

Marketings of fed cattle during February totaled 1.52 million 
head, 7% below 2025. Marketings were the second lowest for 
February since the series began in 1996, according to NASS.

Other disappearance totaled 50,000 head during February, 17% 
below 2025.

DTN ANALYSIS

"We knew that there was a chance that Friday's Cattle on Feed 
report could be a doozey, and it proved to be exactly that, with 
placements being marked 4% higher in February than what they 
were just a year ago," said DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe 
Stewart. 

"That logically begs the first natural question: Where did the 
industry see the biggest jump in placements?" Stewart said. 
"What could be most interesting to note is that out of all the 
states listed, the only states that didn't see a greater number 
of cattle placed compared to a year ago were Colorado and 
Nebraska. Every other state saw an uptick in placements compared 
to a year ago. That is quite the industry trend. 

"But to highlight the biggest feeding states, placements were up 
11% in Iowa, up 11% in Kansas, up 11% in Oklahoma, up 3% in 
South Dakota and up 8% in Texas.

"The other note from Friday's report that needs highlighted is 
that the total number of cattle on feed totaled 11.5 million 
head -- merely steady with a year ago. Given that everyone knows 
that cattle are spending more time on feed than they did in 
years past, which consequently affects how fast feedlot managers 
turn over cattle, this is now starting to show up in the Cattle 
on Feed data, as the industry has plenty of market-ready cattle. 

"In conclusion, it's likely that Friday's report will be 
absorbed as bearish, as the actual data came in heavier than 
what the pre-report estimates speculated. But it's also 
important to remember that in February 2025, placements were 
down 18% compared to February of 2024. So, while the industry 
will likely just read Friday's report and note the 4% uptick in 
placements and gasp, we must take extra time to look back at the 
previous data and see what we are comparing to. Numbers don't 
mean anything without context."

**

DTN subscribers can view the full Cattle on Feed reports in the 
Livestock Archives folder under the Markets menu. The report is 
also available at https://www.nass.usda.gov/.