USDA on Friday said the number of cattle on feed as of Oct. 1 fell less than 1% from a year ago, while placements decreased by 12%.
September marketings were down 7% from a year ago. Inventory figures came in below analyst expectations, with placements also coming in sharply below expectations as well. Marketings came right in line with the average estimate.
| Cattle on Feed Report | USDA % of Year Ago | Avg. Estimate % of Year Ago |
| Cattle on Feed (October 1) | 99 | 100.3 |
| Placements (September) | 88 | 92.6 |
| Marketings (September) | 93 | 93.0 |
Cattle markets have traded near three-month highs in recent sessions, as tight supplies have once again materialized on the fundamental side, causing a rise in cash cattle bids from feedlots and packers. Cash trade of cattle for slaughter was light enough through Thursday this week that USDA had no reportable trades thus far. Trade in futures ahead of the report today saw December live cattle futures close unchanged as they waited for direction.
USDA said cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.168 million head on October 1, 2026. Inventories had exceeded year-ago levels from May through September of this year, with that streak now being broken.
Placements in feedlots during September totaled 1.777 million head and the lowest for the month of September since data collection began in 1996. The next lowest number of placements on record is 1.895 million head in September of 2016. Net placements were 1.73 million head. Breaking down by weight, USDA said placements were:
- Under 600 pounds, 360,000 head,
- 600-699 pounds, 260,000 head,
- 700-799 pounds, 385,000 head,
- 800-899 pounds, 422,000 head,
- 900-999 pounds, 255,000 head,
- 1,000 pounds and greater were 95,000 head.
Marketings of fed cattle during August totaled 1.524 million head, and were also a record low for the month of September. Other disappearances totaled 49,000 head, 4% below 2025.
The quarterly breakdown of cattle by class showed the total number of heifers on feed dropped from 4.355 million in 2025 on October 1 to 4.300 million currently. Heifers make up 37.8% of total cattle on feed, up 0.4% from last quarter but down 0.3% from the prior year. The movement of the metric is not clear enough that herd rebuilding is occurring at a large scale, though markets could interpret that higher heifer retention compared to year-ago levels in combination with the significantly lower placements this month are an indicator that rebuilding is gaining traction. If that is the case, it could mean tight supplies persist in the near-term as animals are held back from the feedlot in order to serve as breeding stock on ranches across the country. Overall, heifer retention remains at a level that would suggest slow rebuilding of the herd.
