August 26

8/26 - In Friday’s monthly cattle report, the USDA said feedlot inventories on Aug 1st were 11.09M head, up 0.3% from a year ago. New placements onto feedlots in July were up 5.8% and marketings up 7.7% from a year ago. The big, year-over-year differences are the result of producers being able to hold cattle on pasture longer this year due to favorable grass conditions. Last year, drought scorched pastures and forced earlier season herd liquidation. So far, there are still no signs of herd expansion. If ranchers do decide to expand, it’s 9.5 months for gestation, plus another year-and-a-half to get a cow to slaughter weight. So, there’s not much chance for an increase in beef supplies before 2027. In Aug’s WASDE, the USDA projected beef production declines of 0.9% in 2024 and 4.8% in 2025. The USDA forecasts cattle prices will average a record-high $188.11/cwt in 2024 and then jump even higher to $191.00/cwt in 2025.