By DTN Staff

This article was originally published at 2:03 p.m. CST on Friday, Dec. 19. It was last updated with additional information at 2:53 p.m. CST on Friday, Dec. 19.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.7 million head on Dec. 1, 2025. The inventory was 2% below Dec. 1, 2024, USDA NASS reported on Friday.

Placements in feedlots during November totaled 1.60 million head, 11% below 2024. Net placements were 1.54 million head. Placements were the lowest for November since the series began in 1996. During November, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 435,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 375,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 320,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 255,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 130,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 80,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during November totaled 1.52 million head, 12% below 2024. Marketings were the second lowest for November since the series began in 1996.

Other disappearance totaled 53,000 head during November, 4% below 2024.

DTN ANALYSIS

Friday's Dec. 1 Cattle on Feed report came out bullish, as was anticipated, said DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart.

"The biggest takeaways again were: 1) Placements remain historically lower, for a number of different factors (a historically low cow herd; producers marketed their calves earlier this year; the border remains closed to Mexican feeder cattle imports; prices were high in October, which naturally lessened the number of calves being placed the following month); and 2) because there is a lower turnover on fed cattle, as cattle are now spending more days on feed, even with a record-low cow herd, the industry still sits with total on-feed numbers close to a year ago," Stewart said.

"To no one's surprise, the states with the lowest placements in November were Arizona (down 27% compared to a year ago), Kansas (down 20% compared to a year ago), and Texas (down 17% compared to a year ago). Those logically pass the 'smell test,' as the border remains closed to Mexico, which has drastically limited the number of imports in those states.

"Needless to say, Friday's Cattle on Feed report will most likely be viewed as another bullish finding. But given the timing the report came out (only days ahead of Christmas), it's unlikely that it will have a strong influence on the market next week."

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DTN subscribers can view the full Cattle on Feed reports in the Livestock Archives folder under the Markets menu. The report is also available at https://www.nass.usda.gov/….

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