By DTN Staff

This article was originally published at 2:03 p.m. CST on Friday, Nov. 21. It was last updated with additional information at 3:37 p.m. CST on Friday, Nov. 21.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.7 million head on Nov. 1, 2025. The inventory was 2% below Nov. 1, 2024, USDA reported on Friday.

Placements in feedlots during October totaled 2.04 million head, 10% below 2024. Net placements were 1.99 million head. Placements were the lowest for October since the series began in 1996. During October, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 515,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 420,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 445,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 384,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 195,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 80,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during October totaled 1.70 million head, 8% below 2024.

Other disappearance totaled 54,000 head during October, 2% below 2024.

DTN ANALYSIS

"Friday's Cattle on Feed report should undoubtedly be viewed as bullish, but it's anyone's guess in the market's current fickle state whether or not traders will view it as substantial enough support to affect the market's trading direction on Monday or not," DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart said following the report's release.

"As the industry has now come to expect, again this month, the biggest line item was the placement data. And with Friday's data showing only 2,039,000 head placed during October, that's 10% less than a year ago and the lowest October placement since the series began back in 1996. What effects the low placement data could have on the market really comes into play next February through April, as fed cattle supplies could be far thinner than anyone anticipated.

"The other interesting note that Friday's report unveiled was the steer and heifer on-feed breakdown as of Oct. 1, which showed heifers at 4,355,000 head, equating to 38% of the total on-feed numbers. Whenever heifers are at or above 37% of the total number of cattle on feed, the industry knows that heifers are being sold as feeders and aren't being retained as replacement females.

"Once again, Friday's report should be viewed as thoroughly bullish. But with the market's fragile technical state, it's tough to tell if traders will give this report the credit it deserves."

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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/….

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