Sept 16 (Reuters) – Placements of cattle in U.S. feedyards likely declined 4.5 percent in August from a year ago as sufficient grazing land and cheaper feed prospects encouraged ranchers to nourish animals outside of feedyards longer, according to analysts surveyed by Reuters.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will issue its September Cattle-On-Feed report on Friday.
It will include the Sept. 1 feedlot supply, August placements and August marketings.
Because of reduced cattle placements, analysts on average estimate the Sept. 1 feedlot cattle supply at 98.8 percent of a year earlier.
Cattle marketings in August were forecast on average at 91.5 percent of a year ago. There was one less day to market cattle last month than in August 2013.
