Not hugely bearish, but not that friendly either seems to be the bottom-line of last Friday's cattle on feed numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Radio Oklahoma Network’s Leslie Smith interviewed Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities about the numbers. Leffler said overall the report was negative report due to the placements number.
The latest cattle on feed report showed cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the U.S. totaled 10.23 million head on July 1, 2015. That was up two percent from last year. The inventory included 6.91 million steers and steer calves, up seven percent from the previous year. This group accounted for 67 percent of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 3.33 million head, down seven percent from 2014. The July 1, 2015 heifers and heifer calves inventory is the lowest percent of total July inventory since the series began in 1996.
Leffler said the only negative part of the cattle on feed report was the placements number, as those figures came in higher than trade expectations. Placements in feedlots during June totaled 1.48 million, one percent above 2014. Net placements were 1.41 million head. During June, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 350,000, 600-699 pounds were 250,000, 700-799 pounds were 336,000, and 800 pounds and greater were 545,000. The heavy weight category was up 11.2 percent versus a year ago. Leffler said heavy weight placements were higher than year ago levels for the tenth month of the past 11 months.
“This is the lowest monthly placement number of the past 12 months, it is the fifth lowest June placement of the past 20 years,” Leffler said.
Marketings of fed cattle during June totaled 1.75 million, five percent below 2014. Marketings are the lowest for June since the series began in 1996. Other disappearance totaled 69,000 during June, eight percent below 2014.
Click here to see more...