Cattle on Feed Report     02/20  16:17

Feb. 1 Cattle on Feed Down 2% From Year Ago

By DTN Staff

                      USDA Actual   Average Estimate*      Range

On Feed Feb. 1             98%           98.5%        97.8-98.8%
Placed in January          95%           96.7%        92.7-99.5%
Marketed in January        87%           87.0%        86.7-88.0%

* Estimates compiled by Dow Jones.

This article was originally published at 2:07 p.m. CST on 
Friday, Feb. 20. It was last updated with additional information 
at 3:17 p.m. CST on Friday, Feb. 20.

**

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 11.5 million head on Feb. 1, 2026. The 
inventory was 2% below Feb. 1, 2025, USDA NASS reported on 
Friday.

Placements in feedlots during January totaled 1.74 million head, 
5% below 2025. Net placements were 1.68 million head. During 
January, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 
pounds were 360,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 365,000 head, 700-
799 pounds were 455,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 381,000 head, 
900-999 pounds were 105,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater 
were 70,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during January totaled 1.63 million 
head, 13% below 2025. 
 
Other disappearance totaled 55,000 head during January, 8% below 
2025.

DTN ANALYSIS

Friday's Cattle on Feed report will likely be viewed by the 
industry as neutral to somewhat bullish, according to DTN 
Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart. 

"Both the on-feed and placement categories of the report were 
bullish, but marketings were sharply lower than a year ago," 
Stewart said. "And while a decrease in marketings makes sense 
given that we currently have fewer cattle on feed; that cattle 
are spending more days on feed, equating to a slower turnover 
speed; and because packers are trying to minimize their need and 
dependance on the cash market due to the high price point of 
cattle, all of these factors contribute to why marketings were 
lighter in January. 

"But given that the pre-report estimates were either spot on or 
slightly higher than what the actual report data amounted to, 
the report will likely be viewed as neutral to slightly bullish. 
There were a couple of things that grabbed my attention, 
however, in the placement data. Placements were up 17% compared 
to a year ago for Arizona during the month of January and were 
up 26% in Oklahoma compared to a year ago. But there were 
equally many states with significant decreases in placements. 
For example, placements in Iowa were down 13%, placements in 
Kansas were down 11% and placements in South Dakota were down 
17% compared to a year ago.

"All in all, Friday's report will likely be seen as a neutral to 
somewhat bullish report, as traders will likely view it on 
Monday and quickly pass by its findings."
**

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/.