USDA’s monthly Cattle on Feed report was released today at 3 p.m. Total cattle on feed amounted to 11.1 million head, 99 percent of last year, as expected.   

Placements and marketings came in slightly more bullish than the pre-report estimates, but still close, within one percent, reflecting the historically tight cattle supply. In the end, marketings were the lowest for August since the series began in 1996.

As a percentage of total inventory, August marketings were current at 16 percent in 2025, reflecting the smaller cattle on feed inventory. However, compared to last year, marketings in August fell behind, as they were 17.6 percent in 2024. Daily marketings were 84,762 in August, versus 89,818 last year. August had 21...