By DTN Staff

This article was originally published at 2:03 p.m. CDT on Friday, May 22. It was last updated with additional information at 2:32 p.m. CDT on Friday, May 22.

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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 11.6 million head on May 1, 2026. The inventory was 2% above May 1, 2025, USDA NASS reported on Friday.

Placements in feedlots during April totaled 1.70 million head, 6% above 2025. Net placements were 1.65 million head. During April, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 330,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 245,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 390,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 457,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 210,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 70,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during April totaled 1.64 million head, 10% below 2025.

Other disappearance totaled 52,000 head during April, 4% above 2025.

DTN ANALYSIS

"As anticipated, Friday's May 1 USDA Cattle on Feed report hit the marketplace like a Mack truck," said DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart. "Regardless of whatever line item you analyzed, an overwhelming bearish sentiment is what stemmed from Friday's report, as on-feed numbers are higher than a year ago, placements are higher than a year ago and marketings continue to be minimal.

"The biggest year-over-year change came from the placement data, which showed placements up 6% compared to a year ago -- at 1,702,000 head. In comparison, placements a year ago were notably lighter (1,613,000 head), as the market wasn't receiving cattle from Mexico during that time. But, still, a 6% year-over-year increase when the border remains closed is telling. Of what, you ask? Well, there are several things that drove Friday's placement data to be higher, but the biggest factor was drought. Drought conditions continue to plague much of the High Plains, which forced some producers to sell early, as they simply don't have the grass to turn cattle out onto this summer. The only states that didn't show a year-over-year increase in terms of feedlot placements were Arizona and Nebraska. And Nebraska isn't a fair comparison, given all the fire damage the state has endured this spring, which gravely changed how most operators conduct business.

"And the other major takeaway came from the total on-feed number, which came in at 11.6 million head and was 2% higher than a year ago. It's been widely talked about how cattle are now being fed to greater weights. But what also comes with that is cattle today spend far more time on feed. The industry standard used to be 120 days on feed to finish, but there are far more cattle that kill around 190 days on feed today than there are those that finish at 120 days.

"Needless to say, Friday's report came in bearish and is largely why the futures market was on edge leading up to the long weekend. Everyone knew that the data was likely going to be burdensome, but they had to wait for that fact to be confirmed."

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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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