The USDA says there were 1.99 million cattle placed into U.S. feedlots during March, down slightly on the year. However, that’s more than what most analysts were expecting heading into the report, despite high feed costs and drought conditions in some of the major U.S. feeding areas. More than a million head of those placements weighed between 700 and 900 pounds, heading to market this summer or early fall.

Marketings during March were 2% lower at 2 million head, in-line with pre-report estimates, while the total number of cattle on feed in the U.S.

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