Last week was capped off with the monthly cattle on feed report late in the day, on Friday. So, let’s see what the USDA had to say, today on this special Monday edition of the Hot Barn Report.
The monthly cattle on feed report released on Friday will likely bring emotions back to center after last month’s report where traders interpreted the data as very bearish, and then went crazy creating volatility in the cash market. This month the report has evened out with placements and inventory only slightly above October levels for 2022.
Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.9 million head on November 1, 2023. The inventory was 2 percent above November 1, 2022.
Placements in feedlots during October totaled 2.16 million head, 4 percent above 2022
But I think it important to zoom out and widen the lense to get a truer sense of what is going on. Leading up to the big overwhelming report last month were cash market conditions that were very enticing and brought bawlers to the barns earlier in the fall run than usually expected. These lucrative feeder cattle markets coupled with some parts of the nation still under drought conditions led to feeder calf movement that had to be flushed out somewhere in a USDA report and that is what we saw.
When you overlay 2023’s entire placement and cattle on feed inventory over the previous year, the fundamentals align with the reality we all know, the cattle aren’t out there. This is further affirmed by the placements and marketing data from USDA which shows 2023 falling behind the previous year at almost every monthly mark.
So, take heart, with there being no signals of herd rebuilding, and with a glut of feeder cattle coming to the block earlier than anticipated, this sets up an equation for a strong rebound in feeder cattle prices which we started to see late last week and possible new highs in the weeks to come. If corn can stay cheap to moderate and we can continue to buy weeks of favorable cattle feeding weather in the Midwest, then there should be some competition for feeder cattle firing up. Hey, didn’t I just draw out every cattle feeder’s dream scenario?
Speaking of dream scenarios….if you are in the market for top quality bred stock, you will find them today at Torrington Livestock! Stock cow complete dispersions from Pickinpaugh, Y3/Forbes, Vercilli, Stamen and Beck. Big runs of bred heifers with complete vaccination and health programs from Oschner-Roth, L & M, and Sidwell and more. Loads of mature bred cows coming from True Ranches, Little Jenny Ranch & Faith Hamlin, Sandstone Ranches, and Frontier Land Company with so many more coming! Pot loads or trailer loads you will find them today at Torrington Livestock.
Long strings of bred cattle and high-quality feeder calves hitting our Hot Barns for their Thanksgiving week specials! Be there at: Stockmens Livestock, Lemmon Livestock, North Platte Stockyards, St. Onge/Newell, Platte Livestock Market, Tri County Stockyards, Torrington Livestock, Creighton Livestock Market, Bassett Livestock Auction, Mobridge Livestock, Ogallala Livestock Auction Market, and Presho Livestock. Catch them all on CattleUSA.com.
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It is official, we have just confirmed our 12th reporting barn for the big fall run. We now blanket the great Northern beef belt from Motely, Minnesota to Torrington, Wyoming.
The Hot Barn Report is a fast paced and entertaining daily program covering the latest news and trends in the cattle industry, hosted by Monte James, a veteran rodeo announcer, radio host and industry expert! The Hot Barn Report features interviews with industry leaders, market analysts, producers and ranchers and features True Price Discovery from salebarns in Great Northern Beef Belt and across the nation.
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