Livestock Mandatory 

Reporting

Cattle
LMR Cattle

• Packers that slaughter 125,000 head per 

year are required to report.

• Currently 38 live cattle plants are covered.

• LMR covers 92% of all fed cattle 

transactions.

• LMR covers 33% of all cow and bull 

transactions.
LMR Staff and Data

Four reporters carry out the live cattle reporting:

 2 reporters cover negotiated cash and negotiated grid 

base purchases.

 1 reporter covers formula, forward contract and 

negotiated grid net purchases.

 1 reporter covers cow/bull purchases.

Handle 5,000 to 8,000 records per day:

 Generate, edit and publish 29 to 53 LMR reports per 

day.
Purchase Types

• Negotiated Cash: Cash or spot market purchase 

where the price is determined through buyer-seller 

interaction. The price is known at the time the deal 

is struck and delivery may be up to 30 days.
Purchase Types (cont’d)

• Formula: The advance commitment of cattle for 

slaughter by any means other than negotiated, 

negotiated grid, or forward contract. Formulas use 

a method of calculating price in which the price may 

often not be known at a future date. 
Purchase Types (cont’d)

• Forward Contract: An agreement for the purchase of 

cattle, executed in advance of slaughter, under which 

the base price is established by reference to prices 

quoted on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. 
Purchase Types (cont’d)

• Negotiated Grid: The base price is negotiated between 

buyer and seller and is known at the time the deal is 

struck and delivery is usually expected within 14 days. 

However, the final net price will be determined by applying 

a series of premiums and discounts after slaughter based 

on carcass performance. The base is reported when 

established. The net is reported after slaughter and 

grading occurs.

• Packer-Owned: Cattle that a packer owns for at least 14 

days immediately before slaughter. These are reported on 

the weekly LPS-115B only.
Reporting Forms and Reports

Live Cattle Daily Report – Current Established Prices 

[Form LPS-113]: Required to submit at 10AM and 2PM 

all transactions that have been priced since the last 

reporting period for steers and heifers (fed cattle only). 

 Examples of reports derived from the LPS-113:

National Weekly Formula, Contract, Grid - LM_CT151

5 Area Weekly Negotiated Cash - LM_CT150
LPS-113
LPS-113
Reporting Forms and Reports

Live Cattle Daily Report – Committed and Delivered Cattle [Form LPS114]: Required to submit at 10AM and 2PM central all transactions since the 

last reporting period regarding committed and delivered volume for steers 

and heifers (fed cattle only). 

 Example of a report derived from the LPS-114:

Daily Committed and Delivered - LM_CT106
LPS-114
LPS-114
Reporting Forms and Reports

Live Cattle Weekly Report – Slaughter, Packer Owned, Forward 

Contract (Due at 9AM Monday for fed cattle only)

[Form LPS-115A] Used to report head count totals of Imported 

and Domestic Formula, Forward Contract, Negotiated Cash, and 

Negotiated Grid cattle killed in the prior week.

[Form LPS-115B] Used to report packer-owned steers and 

heifers slaughtered in the previous week. 

[Form LPS-115C] Used to report new signings of forward contract 

steers and heifers when the contract is established. 

 Report Derived from LPS115: LM_CT153
LPS-115
LPS-115A, LPS-115B
LPS-115C
Reporting Forms and Reports

Cattle Premiums and Discounts Weekly Report [Form 

LPS-117]: This submission is due once a week on 

Monday morning at 9:00AM Central. Packers are 

required to submit their estimated premiums and 

discounts for fed cattle on this form for the upcoming 

week.

 Example of a report derived from the LPS-117:

Weekly 5-Area Premiums and Discounts - LM_CT169
LPS–117
LPS-117
Reporting Forms and Reports

Cow/Bull Plant Delivered Bids [Form LPS-131]: This submission is 

due at 10AM each day and is used to collect the packer’s bids for 

each class and weight break on what they expect to pay for cows and 

bulls that day. These are the bids given to buyers that day. 

 Report derived from the LPS-131: Daily Cow and Bull Plant 

Delivered Bids - LM_CT138

Live Cow/Bull Daily Purchase Report [Form LPS-132]: This 

submission is due at 2PM each day and is used to collect the actual 

pricing and slaughter data on cows and bulls, normally after harvest.

 Report Derived from the LPS-132: Daily Cow and Bull Established 

Prices - LM_CT103
LPS-131
LPS-131
LPS-132
LPS-132
Confidentiality

• For all Live Cattle reports, 3/70/20 is applied to the report as a whole over 

a 60 day period.
Data Review

• Reporters review submitted files at submission 

deadlines. Use checklists to ensure all expected plants 

have reported and then imports data files.

• For fed cattle there is an exclusion policy to 

automatically exclude all lots containing 10 head or 

less.

• Reporters look for any invalid records, contact plant, 

and correct data.

• Reporters identify data outliers and call the plant to 

inquire about lots in question before generating 

reports.
Contact information

Jodie Pitcock

Supervisory Market Reporter

USDA - AMS - Livestock, Poultry, & Grain Market News

816-676-7000

Jodie.Pitcock@ams.usda.gov

Visit us online at:

https://www.marketnews.usda.gov/mnp/ls-home