November 25

11/25 - In Friday’s monthly cattle report, the USDA said feedlot inventories on Nov. 1st were 11.99M head, up slightly (+0.3%) from a year ago. New placements onto feedlots in Oct. were up 5.3%. The jump in placements likely indicates that producers are taking a pass this fall on hold back heifers for potential herd expansion in 2025. However, recent data shows that the average number of days on feed has increased from a traditional 120 to over 180 – mostly due to lack of pasture and cheaper feed prices. As a result, cattle are being grown to higher weights, and producers are making more beef with fewer cows. In Nov.’s WASDE, the USDA projected beef output to increase by 0.2% in 2024. That’s a remarkable improvement from a year ago, when the USDA was projecting a 4.8% production decline for 2024. And the USDA now says 2025 beef output will decline by just 2.7% vs. its original forecast (in May) for a 5.5% decline.