September 27

9/27 - In Friday’s Cattle on Feed report, the USDA said feedlot inventories, at 11.23M head on Sept 1, were down 1.4% from a year ago, but still well above pre-report estimates. New feedlot placements in Aug were 2.3% above last year following 2.1% & 7.1% (yoy) declines, respectively, in July & June. Cattle futures at $122.92/cwt (9/24) are running 14.5% above a 5-year avg of $107.34. April 2022 futures are $136.32. In its Quarterly Hogs & Pigs Report, the USDA said hog inventories on Sept 1 were 3.9% below a year ago; the June-Aug pig crop was down 6.0%, and farrowing intentions for Sept-Nov are down 4.2% - all pointing to lower than expected hog numbers at least into early 2022. Lean hog futures, which soared to 7-year highs of $122.88/cwt in June, declined sharply to lows of $80.37 in mid-Sept, but have since rebounded to $87.27 (9/24).