The latest USDA Cattle on Feed report shows slightly higher than expected placements but with little market impact, said Dr. Derrell Peel, OSU Extension livestock market economist.
The January report came in with placements in December at 101 percent of last year, Peel said.
Marketings were also 101 percent of last year. This leaves us with a January 1 on feed total that is exactly 101 percent of a year ago, he said.
This report was a little bit of a surprise as the placements number came in a little bigger than expected, Peel said. The average pre report for placements was 97 percent.
The market didn’t really react much to this report, Peel said.
The OSU economist said the report indicates we’re still on tract.
We know the feeder cattle pipeline is slowly getting smaller, he noted.
We’re not backed up though the carcass weights are a little bigger than normal, Peel said.
The upcoming cattle inventory report due out later this week could give more evidence for the direction of the cattle cycle, Peel said.
We’re trying to get an idea longer term where we are in the cattle cycle, Peel said, regarding what is happening to the beef cow herd.
This report will provide a state by state breakdown of the cow herd numbers.
State level impacts particularly in states where the drought has been a factor, will be part of our thought process going forward in coming months, he said.
One thing the inventory report won’t show is how higher feed costs will be a factor impacting feeder placements, Peel said.
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