Placements drop 18% in latest Cattle on Feed report | Weekly Livestock Market Update скачать в хорошем качестве

Placements drop 18% in latest Cattle on Feed report | Weekly Livestock Market Update

On this episode of Weekly Livestock Market Update, Brownfield's Meghan Grebner talks with Mississippi State University ag economist Josh Maples about cattle on feed, livestock slaughter, and the reinstatement of an important USDA cattle report. Market highlights: Live steer prices ended the week at 209.15/cwt for the 5-market average which was up $3.85 from a week ago. The April live cattle futures contract was up $4.05 from a week ago to $207.23/cwt, and the April feeder cattle futures price was up 4.50 per cwt on the week to $285.70. Choice box beef was at $325.52 at the end of this week, which is up $5.95 from last week. Cash hogs were down 19 cents to $87.07/cwt. February lean hog futures were down 58 cents to $86.05/cwt on the week. The pork cutout value was down 77 cents from a week ago, to $96.24/cwt this week. Weekly Slaughter: At the end of the week, cattle slaughter was 560,000 head, down 4 percent or 24,000 head from last week, and down 33,000 head from the same week last year. Hog slaughter was 2.428 million head, down 3 percent or 81,000 from the previous week and down 93,000 head (4 percent) compared to year ago. Cattle on Feed: The February Cattle on Feed report was released on Friday and showed lower numbers across the board. The total inventory of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 or more head capacity on March 1 was estimated at 11.6 million head. This was down 2% from compared to March 1, 2024. Placements during February dropped sharply, down 18 percent from February 2024. Fed cattle marketed during February totaled 1.6 million head. This was 9 percent below February 2024. Placements were lower in every reported state except for Washington. The largest year-over-year decline in placements occurred in Kansas (100,000 head fewer or down 22 percent), Texas (95,000 head fewer or down 27 percent), and Nebraska (65,000 head fewer or down 13 percent). The decline in placements was not unexpected. Pre-report estimates showed an expectation of a 15 percent decline. While the number of cattle available to place is certainly part of the story, the winter storms in 2024 caused irregular placement shifts last year which contributes to the year-over-year comparisons to being so large. There was also an extra day in February 2024 due to the leap year. Livestock Slaughter: The monthly Livestock Slaughter report was released by USDA-NASS on Thursday. The report showed February cattle slaughter totaled 2.3 million head which was 11 percent lower than in February 2024. Cattle weights were again a key point in this report and the average live weight was up to 1,432 pounds which is 48 pounds above a year ago. The report showed February hog slaughter totaled 10.2 million head which was 7 percent lower than in February 2024. The average hog weight was up 1 pound from February 2024. The return of the July Cattle Inventory Report: Josh and Meghan talk about the importance of USDA's announcement that the July Cattle Inventory and County Estimate reports would return. Next week's report: » Cold Storage Connect with Brownfield Ag News: » Get the latest ag news: https://www.brownfieldagnews.com/ » Subscribe to Brownfield on YouTube: ‪@BrownfieldAgNews‬ » Follow Brownfield on X (Twitter): https://x.com/brownfield » Follow Brownfield on Facebook:   / brownfieldagnews   About Brownfield Ag News: Brownfield Ag News is your trusted source for reliable agriculture news, market trends, weather updates, and expert interviews. Get comprehensive coverage and stay ahead in the ever-evolving agriculture industry. #cattle #agriculture #news #markets