By DTN Staff

This article was originally published at 2:03 p.m. CST on Friday, Feb. 20. It was last updated with additional information at 2:44 p.m. CST on Friday, Feb. 20.

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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 11.5 million head on Feb. 1, 2026. The inventory was 2% below Feb. 1, 2025, USDA NASS reported on Friday.

Placements in feedlots during January totaled 1.74 million head, 5% 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.

Marketings of fed cattle during January totaled 1.63 million head, 13% below 2025.

Other disappearance totaled 55,000 head during January, 8% below 2025.

DTN ANALYSIS

Friday's Cattle on Feed report will likely be viewed by the industry as neutral to somewhat bullish, according to DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart.

"Both the on-feed and placement categories of the report were bullish, but marketings were sharply lower than a year ago," Stewart said. "And while a decrease in marketings makes sense given that we currently have fewer cattle on feed; that cattle are spending more days on feed, equating to a slower turnover speed; and because packers are trying to minimize their need and dependance on the cash market due to the high price point of cattle, all of these factors contribute to why marketings were lighter in January.

"But given that the pre-report estimates were either spot on or slightly higher than what the actual report data amounted to, the report will likely be viewed as bullish. There were a couple of things that grabbed my attention, however, in the placement data. Placements were up 17% compared to a year ago for Arizona during the month of January and were up 26% in Oklahoma compared to a year ago. But there were equally many states with significant decreases in placements. For example, placements in Iowa were down 13%, placements in Kansas were down 11% and placements in South Dakota were down 17% compared to a year ago.

"All in all, Friday's report will likely be seen as a neutral to somewhat bullish report, as traders will likely view it on Monday and quickly pass by its findings."

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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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