USDA will release its Cattle on Feed report tomorrow; the consensus pre-report analysts’ estimate is for the inventory of cattle on feed as of 1 August to be 100 percent of last year. July placements and marketing are expected to be 104 and 108 percent respectively of last year’s totals.
The estimate for placements reflects not so much a large, anticipated number of cattle put into feed yards last month, but the low level placed in July 2023. A better gauge is to look at actual head placed in July historically. July 2023 saw the lowest placements since 2016 and the estimate for 2024 is 95 percent of 2022 and 98.5 percent of the 2021-2023 three-year average.
Placements last July were 92 percent of the year before, but...
Key Market Insights The broad market is locked in on this week’s Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, but this is no longer just a trade summit. Increasingly, the meeting is becoming tied directly to Iran, energy security, and the growing global economic fallout from disruptions through the Strai...
