According to the USDA’s latest Cattle on Feed report, cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the U.S. for feedlots with capacity of at least 1,000 head totaled 11 million head on Aug. 1, 2023, 2% below year-ago levels.
Perhaps the report’s biggest surprise to many industry experts was feedlot placements during the month of July, which totaled 1.62 million head, a full 8% below 2022. While placements were largely expected to be down from a year ago, most industry experts predicted the decrease to be close to 5%. This continued contraction of the U.S. beef herd appears to be largely due to protracted drought throughout much of the country, as cow-calf producers evaluate the potential availability of forage heading into winter and next spring’s breeding season.
In July, U.S. placements of cattle and calves by weight class were as follows:
- Less than 600 pounds: 365,000 head
- 600 to 699 pounds: 250,000 head
- 700 to 799 pounds: 370,000 head
- 800 to 899 pounds: 373,000 head
- 900 to 999 pounds: 185,000 head
- 1,000 pounds and greater: 75,000 head
Marketings of fed cattle in July were 5% below 2022 levels, totaling 1.73 million head. Other disappearance totaled 65,000 head during the month, 16% above 2022.
