October 28

10/28 - Friday’s USDA Cattle on Feed report was neutral for prices. New placements onto feedlots in Sept were up 2.0% from a year ago, breaking a streak of 4 straight (YOY) monthly declines. Placements were skewed toward lighter weights, as drought in Texas likely forced feeders off of pasture prematurely. The Oct 1st feedlot inventory, at 11.28M head, was 1.1% below last year. Heifers on feedlots at 4.41M head, are 2% above a year ago and account for 39.1% of feedlot inventories –indicating producers are liquidating breeders at a rate that should lead to declining herd numbers. Cattle prices have recovered from the Aug 9 fire at a Tyson Foods plant in Holcomb, KS, which had reduced the beef industry’s processing capacity and slowed demand for slaughter-ready cattle. Cattle prices that bottomed at $94.20/cwt on 9/9 have bounced back to 5-month highs of $111.98