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Cattle on Feed Report 05/22 14:37
May 1 Cattle on Feed Up 2% From Year Ago
By DTN Staff
USDA Actual Average Estimate* Range
On Feed May 1 102% 101.6% 100.2-102.4%
Placed in April 106% 104.6% 96.2-108.5%
Marketed in April 90% 90.7% 89.9-91.7%
* Estimates compiled by Dow Jones.
This article was originally published at 2:07 p.m. CDT on
Friday, May 22. It was last updated with additional information
at 2:37 p.m. CDT on Friday, May 22.
**
OMAHA (DTN) -- Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter
market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000
or more head totaled 11.6 million head on May 1, 2026. The
inventory was 2% above May 1, 2025, USDA NASS reported on
Friday.
Placements in feedlots during April totaled 1.70 million head,
6% above 2025. Net placements were 1.65 million head. During
April, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600
pounds were 330,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 245,000 head, 700-
799 pounds were 390,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 457,000 head,
900-999 pounds were 210,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater
were 70,000 head.
Marketings of fed cattle during April totaled 1.64 million head,
10% below 2025.
Other disappearance totaled 52,000 head during April, 4% above
2025.
DTN ANALYSIS
"As anticipated, Friday's May 1 USDA Cattle on Feed report hit
the marketplace like a Mack truck," said DTN Livestock Analyst
ShayLe Stewart. "Regardless of whatever line item you analyzed,
an overwhelming bearish sentiment is what stemmed from Friday's
report, as on-feed numbers are higher than a year ago,
placements are higher than a year ago and marketings continue to
be minimal.
"The biggest year-over-year change came from the placement data,
which showed placements up 6% compared to a year ago -- at
1,702,000 head. In comparison, placements a year ago were
notably lighter (1,613,000 head), as the market wasn't receiving
cattle from Mexico during that time. But, still, a 6% year-over-
year increase when the border remains closed is telling. Of
what, you ask? Well, there are several things that drove
Friday's placement data to be higher, but the biggest factor was
drought. Drought conditions continue to plague much of the High
Plains, which forced some producers to sell early, as they
simply don't have the grass to turn cattle out onto this summer.
The only states that didn't show a year-over-year increase in
terms of feedlot placements were Arizona and Nebraska. And
Nebraska isn't a fair comparison, given all the fire damage the
state has endured this spring, which gravely changed how most
operators conduct business.
"And the other major takeaway came from the total on-feed
number, which came in at 11.6 million head and was 2% higher
than a year ago. It's been widely talked about how cattle are
now being fed to greater weights. But what also comes with that
is cattle today spend far more time on feed. The industry
standard used to be 120 days on feed to finish, but there are
far more cattle that kill around 190 days on feed today than
there are those that finish at 120 days.
"Needless to say, Friday's report came in bearish and is largely
why the futures market was on edge leading up to the long
weekend. Everyone knew that the data was likely going to be
burdensome, but they had to wait for that fact to be confirmed."
**
DTN subscribers can view the full Cattle on Feed reports in the
Livestock Archives folder under the Markets menu. The report is
also available at https://www.nass.usda.gov/.
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