Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.5 million head on February 1, 2026. The inventory was 2 percent below February 1, 2025. Placements in feedlots during January totaled 1.74 million head, 5 percent below 2025. Net placements were 1.68 million head. During January, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 360,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 365,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 455,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 381,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 105,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 70,000 head.
***AUDIO*** Kyle Bumsted with Allendale breaks down the report:
Marketings of fed cattle during January totaled 1.63 million head, 13 percent below 2025. Other disappearance totaled 55,000 head during January, 8 percent below 2025. Cattle on Feed and Annual Size Group Estimates Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head represented 82.7 percent of all cattle and calves on feed in the United States on January 1, 2026. This is comparable to the 82.5 percent on January 1, 2025. Marketings of fed cattle for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head during 2025 represented 87.1 percent of total cattle marketed from all feedlots in the United States, down slightly from 87.2 percent during 2024.
