CME: Cattle Placed on Feed

Yesterday, the wrong dates for the following events were referenced. Please note that the date for the grains and oilseeds outlook seminar is August 5 while the pork risk management seminar is August 6. Once you sign up, you will also receive a reminder as the seminar date approaches. For those that cannot attend the seminar, the presentation will be posted online the following day.

USDA will release on Friday the results of its monthly survey of feedlots with 1000 or more head as well as the semiannual inventory of US cattle and calves as of July 1, 2008. Today we will focus on the expectations regarding the upcoming cattle on feed report and devote a little more space to the overall inventory numbers in tomorrows edition. Below is a table summarizing the analysts’ expectations of July 1 feedlot numbers as well as their estimates of the number of cattle placed on feed during June and cattle sold by feedlots to beef packers:

The USDA report is expected to show further reductions in the number of cattle placed on feed during June. While the Dow Jones survey results presented above show quite a range in placement expectations, only 1 survey participant indicated that they expect placements to be over year ago levels. Indeed, it will be interesting to see how much of the impact prospects of $8 corn had on US feedlot operators. While corn prices have declined sharply in the last two weeks, corn prices rose steadily for much of June, peaking at near $8 in the last week of June. If placements decline as much as the average of pre-report estimates indicates, it would be the smallest number of cattle placed on feed in almost a decade.

Further Reading

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You can view the full report by clicking here.

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