U.S. feedlots' young cattle purchases up 2.8% year-over-year to 1.714 million head in February, USDA says; jump in purchases driven by expectations that profits would grow amid rising prices for slaughter-ready livestock, industry insider says

Andrew Rogers

LOS ANGELES , March 26, 2012 (Industry Intelligence) – U.S. feedlots increased young cattle purchases 2.8% year-over-year to 1.714 million head in February, driven by expectations that profits would grow amid rising prices for slaughter-ready livestock, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report, Bloomberg reported March 23.

Willingness of feedlots to buy, or place, young cattle at near record-high numbers may have been spurred by optimism that slaughter-ready cattle prices would rise further, according to Daniel Blutzer, research director at Frontier Risk Management.

Feedlots sold nearly 1.755 million animals to meatpackers in February, down 2% year-over-year, according to the USDA.

The primary source of this article is Bloomberg, New York, New York, on March 23, 2012.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.