The latest USDA Cattle on Feed report pegged the Feb. 1 feedlot inventory at 11.716 million head in feedlots with 1,000-plus capacity, down 0.7% year over year. January marketings were 101.4% of one year ago and placements were 101.7% of last year. The report was well anticipated with values close to pre-report estimates.
The February report also contained a summary of 2024 feedlot production and the structure of the feedlot industry coming into 2025. The total U.S. feedlot inventory on Jan. 1 was 14.297 million head, including 2.474 million head in feedlots with capacity less than 1,000 head (Table 1 below).
Since cattle inventories peaked in the mid-1970s, feedlot inventories have represented a growing percentage of cattle inventories (Figure 1). Feedlot inventories represented 16.5% of total cattle inventories on Jan. 1, down fractionally from the peak of 16.6% last year.
Table 1 shows the size distribution of feedlots and their contribution to total feedlot production. A total of 2,105 feedlots with capacity of 1,000-plus head (included in monthly Cattle on Feed reports) accounted for 82.7% of the Jan. 1 feedlot inventory and 87.2% of total feedlot production in 2024.
Table 1. Feedlot Size Distribution, Inventory and Marketings.
Feedlot Capacity Number of Feedlots % of Feedlots >1,000 Hd. Inventory Jan. 1 % of Total Inventory Marketings 2024 % of Total Marketings Head 1,000 Head 1,000 Head <1,000 24,000 2,473.7 17.3 3,180 12.8 1,000-1,999 740 35.5 363 2.5 610 2.5 2,000-3,999 530 25.2 630 4.4 1,220 4.9 4,000-7,999 370 27.6 930 6.5 1,790 7.2 8,000-15,999 190 9 1,040 7.3 1,990 8 16,000-23,999 85 4 940 6.6 1,840 7.4 24,000-31,999 45 2.1 760 5.3 1,550 6.2 32,000-49,999 65 3.1 2,190 15.3 3,920 15.8 >50,000 80 3.8 4,970 34.8 8,720 35.1 Subtotal >1,000 2,105 11,823 82.7 21,640 87.2 Total 26,105 14,296.7 24,820
A total of 24,000 feedlots with less than 1,000 head capacity accounted for 17.3% of feedlot inventory on Jan. 1 and 12.8% of total feedlot marketings in 2024. Feedlots with capacity over 50,000 head made up 3.8% of feedlots over 1,000 head capacity but accounted for 34.8% of inventory and 35.1% marketings last year.
Over 50% of feedlot inventories on Jan. 1 and annual marketings in 2024 were in feedlots over 32,000 head of capacity, 6.9% of feedlots with 1,000-plus head.
The estimated total feedlot capacity (1,000-plus head) on Jan. 1 was 17.2 million head, up fractionally from the previous year. Total feedlot capacity has not changed significantly in recent years and has averaged 17.13 million head since 2011. Figure 2 shows the Jan.1 feedlot inventory as a percentage of feedlot capacity.
The cattle on feed percentage of feedlot capacity on Jan. 1 was 68.7%, down from 69.8% in 2024 and from the recent peak of 70.4% in 2022. For the past 15 years, feedlot inventories have averaged 66.7% of the feedlot capacity (red dotted line). The percentage dropped significantly from 2014-17 during herd expansion.
Ever tighter feeder cattle supplies and the prospect of heifer retention for herd rebuilding mean that the percentage is likely to decrease in the future. — Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist
