Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.4 million head on Oct. 1, 2018. The inventory was 5 percent above Oct. 1, 2017. This is the highest Oct. 1 inventory since the series began in 1996. The inventory included 7.09 million steers and steer calves, up 2 percent from the previous year. This group accounted for 62 percent of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.31 million head, up 11 percent from 2017. Placements in feedlots during September totaled 2.05 million head, 5 percent below 2017. Read more…