Sept. 23, 2025:
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 11.1 million head on September 1, 2025. That level was near pre-report trade predictions and one percent below September 1, 2024.
Farm Journal’s AgWeb said that the September report shows historically tight U.S. supplies, but may also show farmers are starting to retain some heifers in the American cattle herd. State-by-state reports also show some higher numbers, including Texas at 91 percent compared to last year, Oklahoma at 95 percent, while Kansas is at 103 percent, and Iowa and Nebraska were at 105 percent compared to last year.
Placements in feedlots during August totaled 1.78 million head, 10 percent below last year. Net placements were 1.73 million head. Fed cattle marketings in August reached 1.57 million head, 14 percent below last year and the lowest for August since 1996.
Aug. 26, 2025:
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 10.9 million head on August 1, 2025. That was two percent below August 1, 2024, and in line with pre-report trade estimates of 98.1 percent.
Drovers said the August 1 level is an eight-year low. The state-by-state breakdown showed a steady increase across most of the states, but compared to a year ago, the Southern feedlots were well below 2024. That’s because of the closure of the Southern U.S. border to Mexican feeder imports. The northern feeder areas were said to be above year-ago levels.
Texas placements were at 75 percent of last year, Colorado was 76 percent, Nebraska was at 98 percent, while Kansas and Iowa were at 102 and 118 percent, respectively. Feedlot placements in July were 1.6 million head, six percent below last year.
July 29, 2025:
The July 2025 Cattle on Feed Report offered little relief to customers paying higher prices for beef. That’s despite the cycle of herd liquidation that seems to be slowly ending.
There were 94.2 million cattle and calves in the U.S. as of July 1, 2025, the lowest mid-year number of cattle since 1973. The USDA also said the number of animals placed in feedlots for weight gain before being sent to packers plunged to its lowest level since 2017.
Bloomberg said a severe shortage in the world’s largest beef-producing country has sent cattle costs soaring, wiping out billions in profits for packers and driving record-high beef prices in U.S. grocery stores.
Dr. Derrell Peel at Oklahoma State University says the latest USDA numbers offer little indication of herd rebuilding or, at least, it’s not very aggressive so far. “The number of heifers in feedlots remained mostly stable,” Peel told Bloomberg.
June 24, 2025:
The USDA’s Cattle on Feed Report said 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 11.4 million on June 1, 2025. That inventory level was one percent below June 1, 2024, which fell within most of the industry’s pre-report expectations.
Industry experts called the report neutral to slightly friendly but continue to point to a tight supply picture for the cattle market. Drovers says several states continue to see inventory well below last year, such as Texas at 93 percent and Colorado at 96 percent of 2024. On the other end, Nebraska was 104 percent compared to 2024, Oklahoma was 102 percent, and Kansas was 101 percent.
Fed cattle marketings in May totaled 1.76 million head, ten percent below 2024. Other disappearances in May totaled 62,000 head, unchanged from May 2024.
May 23, 2025:
Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.4 million head on May 1, 2025. The inventory was 2 percent below May 1, 2024.
Placements in feedlots during April totaled 1.61 million head, 3 percent below 2024. Net placements were 1.56 million head. During April, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 310,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 225,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 370,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 443,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 195,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 70,000 head.
Marketings of fed cattle during April totaled 1.83 million head, 3 percent below 2024.
Other disappearance totaled 50,000 head during April, 11 percent below 2024.
January 29, 2025:
Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the U.S. for feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.8 million head on January 1, 2025. The inventory was one percent below January 1, 2024. The inventory includes 7.25 million steers and steer calves, up one percent from the previous year. This group accounted for 61 percent of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.58 million head, down three percent from 2024.
“This report was about as bullish of a report that cattlemen could have hoped for,” says DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart. “It’s a relief to see more marketings taking place, which, in combination with lighter placements, helped decrease the total number of cattle on feed.”
Marketings of fed cattle during December totaled 1.74 million head, one percent higher than last year. Other disappearances totaled 59,000 head during December, two percent below 2023.
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