Cattle on Feed Report: Bearish

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The combination of heavier-than-expected Placements and lighter-than-expected Marketings produced an On Feed number as of April 1 that was just over 1 percentage point greater than anticipated.

In looking at the weight breakdown of calves placed into feedlots last month, all weight categories were up from year-ago. Notably, placements were up sharply in Kansas, Texas and Nebraska -- the three largest cattle states. Lightweight placements rose 5.1%, 6-weights were up 5%, 7-weights were p 8% and heavyweights were up 5.3%. With all three categories coming in on the negative side of pre-report expectations, the data gets a negative read and is expected to weigh on cattle futures Monday.

COF Report

USDA

Average

Range

% of year-ago levels

On Feed

95%
93.9

92.7-95.5

Placements

106%

99.1

92.1-103.2

Marketings

92%

93.5

92.4-95.1

 

 

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