Cattle and calves on feed in U.S. feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10 million head on Aug. 1, a report released last week by the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said. The inventory was 6 percent below August 1, 2012.

In Iowa, there were 560,000 cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head on Aug. 1, the report said. The inventory is 7 percent less than the cattle and calves on feed on Aug. 1, 2012.

Placements in U.S. feedlots during July totaled 1.72 million, 10 percent below 2012.

There were 48,000 head of cattle placed in...