Cattle on Feed Figures Remain Behind Last Year

By Kirk Maltais

The number of cattle on U.S. feedlots fell in October, declining more than expected by analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.

The Agriculture Department published its monthly Cattle on Feed report Friday, which reported feedlot data for the month of October. The USDA said there were 11.7 million head of cattle on feedlots as of Nov. 1, down from nearly 12 million head at the same time a year ago. New placements of cattle onto feedlots fell 10% from the prior year, sliding to 2 million head. Marketings fell 8% to 1.7 million head.

All the moves lower were more than analysts expected, but not far off from the results reported. Analysts anticipated that these figures would show a decline due to the U.S.-Mexico border remaining closed to feeder cattle because of the New World Screwworm disease.

The USDA unveiled a new initiative to control screwworm issues on Friday with a website meant to centralize government information and efforts. The USDA is also pushing to release more sterilized flies into the wild to prevent the disease from spreading further north in the U.S.

Most-active live cattle futures on the CME closed trading down 0.4% to $2.16725 a pound. Lean hogs finished down 2.5% to 77.7 cents a pound.

Write to Kirk Maltais at [e-mail]

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