March 28

3/28 - In Friday’s Cattle on Feed report, the USDA said feedlot inventories, at 12.16M head on March 1, were up 1.4% from a year ago. New placements onto feedlots in February jumped 9.3% from a year ago, resuming the trend toward large, year-over-year, liquidation-driven placement gains in 4 of the past 5 months. But cattle herd numbers have been significantly trimmed, and a downtrend in new placements is already underway in March. In March’s WASDE, the USDA projected a 1.3% decline in beef output for 2022. Cattle futures at $140.47/cwt (3/25) are 17.5% above a year ago. The big 3 grilling holidays – Memorial Day (5/30), Father’s Day (6/19), July 4th – are approaching quickly. Seasonally higher beef demand should keep prices well supported.