USDA’s Cattle on Feed Report Friday afternoon is expected to show the Nov. 1 feedlot inventory just fractionally smaller than year-ago. Placements are expected to rise 2.2% from last year, though the range of estimates is relatively wide. Plus, October 2020 placements were down from the previous year, whereas they normally increase for the month. The implied level from the average pre-report estimate would be down significantly from October 2019 and smaller the five-year average. Marketings are expected to drop 3.7% from last year, though that too will be skewed by one fewer working day this year compared with October 2020.
Cattle on Feed | Avg. Trade Estimate (% of year-ago) | Range | Million head |
On Feed on Nov. 1 | 99.8 | 98.9-100.4 | 11.949 |
Placements in October | 102.2 | 98.5-104.9 | 2.240 |
Marketings in October | 96.3 | 95.7-97.8 | 1.804 |