The recently released december 1 cattle on feed report told us about what we expected – cattle numbers nationwide are down. Specifically, cattle on feed in yards with capacity of 1,000 head or more was 10.7 million head, 5 percent below the 2012 inventory and the second lowest inventory for December 1 since the series began in 1996.
But the interesting and exciting report is what happened in Iowa. Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter in Iowa for all feedlots totaled 1,335,000, up 6 percent from November 1, 2013 and up 5 percent from December 1, 2012. Feedlots with capacity greater than 1,000 head was up 3 percent from last month but unchanged from last year. But the real news came from feedlots with less than 1,000 head. They reported 725,000 head on feed, up 8 percent from last month and up 10 percent from last year, with November placements up 12 percent from last year!
What's this mean for Iowa? One is that cattle feeders are seeing the true advantage to our feed cost and availability, and another is that the expansion we saw in hoop and monoslope buildings in the last year or two are filled with cattle. But the biggest impact is that young producers are getting back to the farm via cattle production, and that means money for the local economy, kids to fill the schools and young families for our communities!