Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is talking with Allendale’s Rich Nelson about the latest USDA Cattle on Feed Report released June 21, 2024.
Nelson said USDA gave a small surprise with May placements, at 4 percent over last year. Nelson added it is important to keep in mind there have been several months of placement declines in previous reports.
“The trade did look for a little bit lower number, so we might have a small easing of some concern lined up for first quarter and fourth quarter supplies up ahead,” Nelson said.
The on-feed number came out slightly lower than last year, Nelson said, at .01 percent lower. Nelson said these declining numbers did not appear in the report as quickly as expected.
Nelson also talked about heavier carcasses and noted weights are running close to 4 percent higher than last year.
“We do have, at least for now, a temporary period until the end of summer of some adequate beef supplies until numbers do start tightening up again,” Nelson said.
After these placement declines, Nelson said we are probably due for a slight change as we go into the fall period for supplies. Looking ahead to the July report, Nelson said the breakdown regarding numbers on feed will be looked at more.
“Keep in mind that for the month of April, heifers were about 38 and a half percent of the feedlot by historical standards, which is pretty high,” Nelson said. “They once were down to about 31 to 32 percent back when we were doing expansion here.”
Nelson said the trade is looking for a sign of change that the expansion process has begun, but that has not shown up in the numbers yet.
“We are still probably looking at beef supply declines probably all the way through 2026 here as it stands,” Nelson said.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
