USDA released the monthly Cattle on Feed report on Friday; the total inventory of cattle on feed in feedlots of 1,000 head or more capacity was 11.9 million head. Following is a summary and breakdown of today’s report.

Placements in October were 104 percent of last year, below the pre-report consensus estimate. As WPI noted last week, October typically sees the highest placements of the year after calves come off grass. However, this year, with a surprisingly large volume of placements in September at 2.21 million head, the October placements were about 50,000 head fewer. Over the past 10 years, the average increase in October placements compared to September has been about 10 percent; this year October placements were about 2.25 p...