October 24

10/24 - In Friday’s cattle report, the USDA said feedlot inventories totaled 11.55M head on Oct 1, down 0.9% from a year ago. New placements onto feedlots in Sept were down 3.8%. Drought continues to be the driving factor, forcing producers to liquidate feeders at younger ages & lighter weights, while also unloading breeding inventory (heifers). In the lowest, under 600-lb category, Sept placements were 10,000 head above a year ago. There were 4.49M heifers of feed for Oct 1, up 1.4% from a year ago, and comprising 39.7% of all feedlot inventory. In Oct’s WASDE, the USDA projected a slim, 0.7% increase in beef output for 2022 followed by a 6.3% drop in 2023. Beef supplies will be depressed at least through 2025. The USDA forecast 2023 cattle prices to average $154.00/cwt, up 7.6% from $143.15 for 2022. Cattle futures set a fresh 7-year high of $150.48 on Friday (10/21).