Cattle on Feed Flat Through October, USDA Says

By Kirk Maltais

The amount of U.S. cattle on feedlots were essentially flat for the month through October, the Agriculture Department said in its monthly Cattle on Feed Report.

In its report Friday, the USDA said that cattle on feed inventories rose 30,000 head for the month from this month last year, ending at 11.99 million head. That is in line with estimates from analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.

But new placements of cattle onto feedlots rose more than expected by analysts. USDA reported placements rose by 116,000 head, to 2.29 million. That is up 5.3% from this time last year, beating the estimate of 4.2% from surveyed analysts.

Marketings of cattle on feed also rose, climbing 4.7% from 2023 to 1.85 million head. Surveyed analysts had forecast marketings to rise 5.1%.

Live cattle futures on the CME finished trading up 0.5% Friday, to $1.883 a pound. Lean hogs finished up 1.2% to 85.7 cents a pound.

To see related data, search "USDA Monthly Cattle on Feed Data" in Dow Jones NewsPlus.

Write to Kirk Maltais at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-22-24 1541ET