While placements in the September Cattle on Feed report were well outside the upper end of pre-report expectations, a livestock economist says there’s more to the story.
University of Missouri’s Scott Brown says about 2.1 million head were placed in August of 2022. “We also placed about 2.1 million head in September, so we’re flat,” he says. “That’s not traditionally what the seasonality would look like. Normally September is above August and what we got in this report is more reflective of that normal seasonal pattern.”
He tells Brownfield the state breakdowns provide more insight to what lead to the uptick in placements.