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Despite ever smaller feeder cattle supplies, feedlot inventories have temporarily halted the slow decline of the last year with the September surge in placements.

Packers were forced to add to their inventory and pushed prices $2 higher last week. The surprises in the Cattle on Feed report may offer a reason to push prices lower, yet feedyards maintain the upper hand.

Prices for day-old beef-X-dairy (BXD) calves are often surprisingly high. But what used to be a highly discounted after-thought (straight dairy calves) is rapidly transforming into a meaningful source of production.

For cow-calf producers, fall is often a time for preconditioning, weaning and marketing calves. While prices will likely be towards the top end this year, could you still be leaving money on the table?

The World Meat Congress recently convened in Maastricht, Netherlands, for the first time in five years, with a host of thought leaders and organizations focused on the global meat consumer in attendence.

Cattle feeders saw $1 to $2 gains in all regions during the week, but a struggling futures market and an unfriendly placement number in Friday’s Cattle on Feed report may drag on cash prices in the short-term.

According to results of a recent survey funded by the United Soybean Board, the old saying, “You are what you eat,” is not only about consumers. It’s about what animals eat, too.