Cattle on Feed Report     04/17  16:15

April 1 Cattle on Feed Down 2% From Year Ago, Placements Up 5%

By DTN Staff

                      USDA Actual   Average Estimate       Range
On Feed April 1           98%            98.3%        97.5-99.2%
Placed in March          105%           104.2%       99.0-106.7%
Marketed in March        101%           100.6%       99.0-101.5%

This article was originally published at 2:08 p.m. CDT on 
Thursday, April 17. It was last updated with additional 
information at 3:15 p.m. CDT on Thursday, April 17.

**

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 11.6 million head on April 1, 2025. The 
inventory was 2% below April 1, 2024, USDA NASS reported on 
Thursday. 

The inventory included 7.26 million steers and steer calves, 
down slightly from the previous year. This group accounted for 
62% of the total inventory. 

Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.38 million head, down 
4% from 2024.

Placements in feedlots during March totaled 1.84 million head, 
5% above 2024. Net placements were 1.79 million head. During 
March, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 
pounds were 335,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 285,000 head, 700-
799 pounds were 475,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 506,000 head, 
900-999 pounds were 175,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater 
were 65,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during March totaled 1.73 million head, 
1% above 2024.

Other disappearance totaled 55,000 head during March, 4% below 
2024.

DTN ANALYSIS

Thursday's Cattle on Feed report came out close to analysts' 
estimates, although placements were slightly higher, and so were 
the number of fed cattle marketed, noted DTN Livestock Analyst 
ShayLe Stewart.
 
"It may seem jaw-dropping to see a 5% increase in March 
placements from a year ago, but it should be noted that last 
year, placements were down 12% in March, only totaling 1,746,000 
head," Stewart said. "But in March of 2023, there were 1,990,000 
head placed, and that was down 1% compared to 2022 data. So, 
today, seeing the placement data come in at 1,841,000 head isn't 
that bewildering when you consider the varying circumstances of 
recent years.
 
"To break the placement data down specifically, the following 
states saw placement figures increase compared to a year ago: 
Arizona up 9%, Idaho up 14%, Kansas up 8%, Nebraska up 11%, 
South Dakota up $3% and Texas up 1%. And in terms of the 
individual weight groups, every single class saw greater 
placements than compared to a year ago.
 
"And when you take into account the 10,000-foot view of the 
market (the record-high prices seen at sale barns in March, the 
increase in imports from Mexico and buyers' concern that feeder 
cattle supplies are only going to be harder to come by the 
closer grass turn-out season arrives) it makes sense logically 
why placements were higher than compared to a year ago.
 
"In conclusion, seeing placements up 5% compared to a year ago 
may seem bewildering at first, but when one understands that the 
data was down 12% in March of 2024, Thursday's placements 
category isn't problematic. And I believe traders will find the 
gains made in this week's fed cash cattle market more important 
than the news from the Cattle on Feed report. Thursday's report 
will likely be viewed as neutral to somewhat bearish simply 
because of the year-over-year comparison."

**

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/.