USDA released its October Cattle on Feed report on 23 October 2026.
September placements were 1.777 million head
The US Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service reported on 23 October 2026 that feedlots with capacity for at least 1,000 cattle placed 1.777 million head during September. A year earlier they placed 2.021 million head. The decline was 12 percent on the agency’s rounded comparison, and the September 2026 total was the lowest September placement figure since the series began in 1996.
Marketings and October inventory
The same report recorded 1.524 million fed cattle marketed in September, compared with 1.632 million a year earlier, a decline of 7 percent. Cattle on feed on 1 October numbered 11.372 million head, slightly below the 11.418 million recorded on the same date in 2025. All figures count animals in US feedlots with capacity of 1,000 head or more; they are not cattle prices or international trade volumes.