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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/.
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