Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.5 million head on Dec. 1, 2017. The inventory was 8 percent above Dec. 1, 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in its report.

There were 700,000 head of cattle on feed in Iowa feedlots as of Dec. 1, the USDA said. This was up 17 percent from Dec. 1, 2016, the report said.

Placements in U.S. feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head during November totaled 2.1 million head, 14 percent above 2016. There were 122,000 head of cattle...