Placements of cattle into U.S. feedlots were up sharply last month.
The USDA says September 2023 placements were 2.206 million head, above pre-report expectations and up 6% from September 2022. Those cattle will be marketed starting early next year.
Marketings for September were down 11% from a year ago at 1.663 million head, while the total number of cattle on feed at the start of the month was 11.58 million head, the highest October total since the series of reports began.