Market News & Headlines >> July Feedlot Placements Seen Well Below 2013

The livestock trade expects Friday’s monthly USDA Cattle-on-Feed Report to show July feedlot placements down more than 9% from a year earlier amid tightening feeder cattle supplies and favorable pasture conditions.

However, the number of cattle marketed by feedlots last month is also seen down significantly after preliminary estimates put July slaughter nearly 10% below a year earlier.

Pre-report estimates of July feedlot placements average 9.4% below a year earlier in a range from 5% to 13.7% lower, according to a survey of 14 analysts by Bloomberg News.

At the average of trade estimates, July placements would total 1.526 million head, roughly 158,000 head below a year earlier, and would be the smallest in USDA’s current data series going back to 1996.

Trade estimates of July feedlot marketings average 8.0% below a year earlier in a range from 5.0% to 9.5% lower. At the average of estimates, marketings would be 1.812 million head, 158,000 below a year earlier, and would also be the smallest on record going back to 1996.

Expectations for the supply of cattle on feed as of Aug. 1 average 2.8% below a year earlier in a range from 1.7% to 3.1% lower. If the Aug. 1 feedlot inventory matches the trade average, it would be 9.746 million head, down 279,000 head from last year and would be the smallest for the date in five years.