The three headline numbers describe the pipeline: on-feed inventory is current supply, placements are supply four to six months out, and marketings are how fast animals are leaving. Because the report lands after the close, the reaction happens at Sunday evening's open.
Placements are the number that matters for deferred contracts. Heavy placements today mean abundant beef next spring, which pressures the deferred live-cattle-futures months rather than the front.
Example: analysts expect placements at 98% of a year earlier and the report prints 106%. Deferred live cattle can open $2 per cwt lower, $800 per contract, with the front month barely moving.
Related: live-cattle-futures, feeder-cattle-futures, wasde, deferred-month, cattle-crush-spread