01/30/08 Cattle in feedlots

Latest USDA numbers show that cattle producers in December only put 1.7 million head into feedlots. That's one percent less than December of 2006. US Department of Agriculture livestock analyst Joel Greene says most analysts were expecting to see about a three percent feedlot increase last month. But with 12 million head in feedlots at the beginning of this month Greene says the US is running about one percent ahead of last year's numbers. That's the highest January figure in twelve years but many of those animals will be marketed this spring. GREENE "So we will see that bump up in beef supplies at that time." Greene says the industry is waiting for the cattle report to be released on Friday. GREENE "And that will give us a better indication exactly how many cattle are out there, what the calf crop was last year and how many beef cows are out there. So a lot of people will be looking at that for indications and probably be reevaluating the whole situation then." Greene says cow slaughter was fairly strong last year and there's some thought that cattle numbers may fall below last year's level. He also expects no increase in steer prices this year, staying in the 90 dollar per hundred weight range in part because of more chicken and pork production and some economic uncertainty. GREENE "That will be a report that really everything will be reevaluated when that data becomes available." Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott