Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.9 million head on January 1, 2024. The inventory was 2% above January 1, 2023, according to USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service (NASS).
The inventory included 7.20 million steers and steer calves, up 2% from the previous year. This group accounted for 60% of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.74 million head, up 2% from 2023.
Marketings of fed cattle during December totaled 1.73 million head, 1% below 2022. Other disappearance totaled 60,000 head during December, 11% above 2022.
An industry consultant says there’s still a lot of optimism in the cattle industry, but producers continue to face headwinds. Nevil Speer says, “Even though markets have been good, it’s the amount of working capital that they require. Input costs remain high. And what happens is cash flow gets somewhat challenging within the business, and that’s been especially problematic with a rising interest rate environment.” He says interest rates are expected to stabilize in the coming year, which is good news for producers. “Most every producer that I work with is excited. They’re optimistic. You see young people coming back.”
According to Speer, that doesn’t mean producers shouldn’t implement risk management to protect their bottom line.
The big factors that could affect the market for the rest of January are slaughter speeds, boxed beef prices and weather conditions.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
It appears relief for consumers may be on the horizon with cattle placements moving higher in the past year. In the meantime, and for the foreseeable future, cattle producers appear to be doing well according to industry experts. While they may currently have somewhat higher interest costs, their margins should remain profitable. Assuming that scenario holds, it would be a perfect time to target cattle producers in your area. Be sure to put your inventory on AgTruckTrader.com. Plus, CADFI is a great tool to help these producers meet their financing needs and match it with their cash flow. Do yourself a favor and check it out now!
