05/22/06 Still lots of cattle on feed

American Rancher May 22, 2006 Simply put, USDA livestock analyst Ron Gustafson says we still have a lot of cattle on feed. He was commenting on Friday's USDA Cattle on Feed report which showed a record feedlot inventory for the month of May of 11.6 million head. Gustafson: "Cattle on feed on May 1 was up about nine percent from a year ago. About the same as we were a month ago. We've got very large supplies. The placement levels have slowed down a little bit and we will probably see placements slow down again over the next couple of months because we have finally gotten some moisture, particularly in the southern Plains. But overall, we have a lot of cattle to market over the next couple quarters." The record inventory and a record low level of marketings last month has been felt in steer prices. Gustafson: "We are presently seeing cattle in the upper 70s. About $12 lower than they were a year ago, per hundredweight. So, we are probably going to see prices move down marginally over the next several months, and then as we get into late summer and a tightening of supplies, we will begin to see prices move up again." Gustafson says the beneficiaries of the large feedlot inventory will be consumers, with lower beef prices for the grilling season. I'm Bob Hoff.