Cattle On Feed Report Could Indicate Some Heifer Retention

The latest USDA Cattle on Feed (COF) report shows feedlot inventories as of April 1 were 11.64 million head, down 1.6% year over year. The 12-month moving average of feedlot inventories is 11.59 million head, which is the lowest since November 2023, according to Oklahoma State University Livestock Marketing Specialist Derrell Peel.

March feedlot marketings were 1.73 million head, up 1.1% from last year. Marketings were down 2.2% in the first quarter of the year compared to one year ago. Placements in March were up 5.1% from 2024, but were down 4% in the first three months of this year.

In the current cattle cycle, Peel said feedlot inventories peaked in 2022. The April 1 feedlot inventory was down 4.6% compared to April 1, 2022, when the top six cattle feeding states at the time—Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa and California—accounted for 85.6% of the total feedlot inventory. He said those six states currently account for 84.1% of the total inventory. Since April 2022, feedlot inventory has decreased by 9.5% in Texas, 2.3% in Nebraska, 6.8% in Kansas, 9.1% in Colorado and 11.5% in California. Peel said Iowa currently is the only state among the top six with a larger feedlot inventory, up 4.6% since April 2022.