July Cattle Placements and Marketings Hit Record Lows

The number of cattle entering large U.S. feedlots fell to a record low for July.

The U-S-D-A says feedlot placements totaled one-point-four-two million head last month, down 11 percent from July 2025. Marketings also reached a record July low at one-point-six-two million head, a seven-percent decline.

Despite those drops, the number of cattle on feed August 1st increased two percent from a year earlier to just over 11-point-one million head.

In South Dakota, July placements fell 27 percent and marketings dropped 14 percent. Iowa placements were down 17 percent, while Kansas and Nebraska each reported declines of 14 percent.

The records date to 1996, when the current reporting series began.

The supplied Minnesota figures were mislabeled. Those numbers belong to Nebraska; Minnesota is included in the USDA’s combined “Other States” category.

Source: USDA Cattle on Feed report.