April 24

4/24 - In Friday’s monthly cattle report, the USDA said feedlot inventories totaled 11.6M head on April 1, down 4.4% from a year ago. Total new placements onto feedlots in March were down 0.6%, however, placements in the lowest, under-600lb, weight category were up 11.4% vs. a year ago – indicating the drought-induced herd liquidation has not abated. Forty-one percent of U.S. cattle are still located in drought areas, and 18% are in extreme drought areas – just slightly better than 21% a year ago. In April’s WASDE, the USDA projected a 5.3% drop in beef production for 2023. Over the past 4 months, the USDA has raised its forecast 2023 cattle prices from $135.00 to $164.50/cwt. CME cattle futures set a record high at $ 176.48 last week (4/18) and closed at $173.97 on Friday (4/21). Forward contracts are averaging $167.84/cwt for the 2nd half of 2023, and $175.67 for the 1st half of 2024.