By DTN Staff

This article was originally published at 2:03 p.m. CDT on Friday, Sept. 19. It was last updated with additional information at 2:50 p.m. CDT on Friday, Sept. 19.

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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 11.1 million head on Sept. 1, 2025. The inventory was 1% below Sept. 1, 2024, USDA NASS reported on Friday.

Placements in feedlots during August totaled 1.78 million head, 10% below 2024. Net placements were 1.73 million head. During August, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 355,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 265,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 390,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 420,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 260,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 90,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during August totaled 1.57 million head, 14% below 2024. Marketings were the lowest for August since the series began in 1996.

Other disappearance totaled 51,000 head during August, 6% below 2024.

DTN ANALYSIS

"Friday's Sept. 1 USDA Cattle on Feed report came out at the bullish end of the scale, as placements only totaled 1,780,000 head during the month of August, down 10% compared to a year ago, and down roughly 1 percentage point from what the average estimates were before the report," said DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart.

"It was quite astonishing to look at the state-by-state breakdown of the placement data, as the only two states that saw an increase year over year of placements for the month of August were Arizona (up 20%) and Washington (up 14%)," Stewart said. "But otherwise, all the other states reported a decline compared to a year ago. And when looking at the individual weight class breakdown, the data was clear there too as compared to a year ago: Not one weight class saw more placements than compared to a year ago.

"This report should largely be viewed as another bullish factor, highlighting the greater point, which is that the U.S. beef cow herd sits at a multidecade low, and with the U.S. border still closed to Mexican cattle imports, the bottom line is that supplies are thin."

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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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