Cattle on feed pre-report estimates came out showing that cattle on feed numbers are expected to decline slightly from last month with higher daily marketings and lower placements – although the final tally will likely be above a year ago.

  • The range for placements all were below a year ago 93.6-97.8 (96.1 avg.)
  • The range for marketings were 97.7-98.1 (98.0 avg.).

Based on the average of the pre-report estimates, net placements calculate to the lowest level since July of 2021 and closer to the five year average. One less marketing day indicated analysts saw higher than last year daily cattle slaughter, and pushing the daily average over 90,000 head.