Agricultural News
Leffler Finds Bearish Cattle on Feed Report Gives Industry Plenty to Chew On
Mon, 25 Jan 2016 13:11:26 CST
The latest cattle on feed numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture were released last Friday afternoon. According to Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities, he indicates this report is not that friendly. The number of cattle on feed as of January first came in at 100 percent. The trade was looking for 98.8 percent. December placements were at 99 percent. The trade was looking for 94.7 percent. Marketings for December were at 101 percent. The trade was looking for 100.8 percent. The number of cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.6 million head on January first. The inventory was slightly below last January and 5.1 percent below the five year average.
The placements numbers were telling the tale of this cattle on feed report. Leffer said placements were not friendly at all in being the most negative figure out of the whole report. Placements came in at 99 percent. USDA reported placements in feedlots during December totaled 1.53 million head, one percent below 2014. That was 8.3 percent lower than the five year average. Kansas placements were up two percent, Nebraska was up one percent and Texas was down six percent versus a year ago.
"This was the second smallest December placements of the past 20 years, it's also the second lowest placement number for 2015," Leffler said. "This also comes in as the third lowest placement of the past 34 straight months."
In the weight breakdown of placements, cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were down 14.8 percent at 375,000 head, 600-699 pounds were down 2.7 percent at 355,000 head, 700-799 pounds were up 6.9 percent at 355,000 head, and 800 pounds and greater were at 440,000 head, up ten percent from last year.
Marketings of fed cattle during December totaled 1.67 million head, one percent above 2014. This was 4.2 percent lower than the five year average. Leffler said December marketings were the fourth lowest of the past 20 years. Marketings for Kansas and Nebraska were unchanged versus a year ago, while Texas increased by seven percent.
The placements numbers were the key to the report. They weren't as big as much of the rest of 2015 on a month to month basis, but on a percentage basis compared to a year ago, they were quite a bit bigger than what the trade was expecting. As a result, this latest cattle on feed report was a bearish report for the industry to be chewing on.
Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays featured Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities on the Beef Buzz feature. Click or tap on the LISTEN BAR below to listen to today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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