The Department of Agriculture recorded 11.16 million head of cattle on feedlots as of the end of August. While this represents a year-over-year rise, the momentum is weaker than industry experts projected. The most striking deviation from forecasts occurred in new placements, which dropped to 1.62 million head—a 9.2% decline from last August. Analysts had braced for a far shallower contraction of only 2.7%.

Marketings provided a slight counterbalance to the supply slowdown, totaling 1.52 million head. Although this figure reflects a 3.3% decline compared to the previous year, it outperformed consensus expectations. Following the report, live cattle futures on the CME edged up 0.2% to $2.16575 a pound, while lean hogs retreated 1.4% to 68.6 cents a pound.