Answer first
Do not close the lot while a head-count gap remains
Before closeout, match the expected head count with cattle observed across every active pen.
Then account for arrivals, transfers, pulls, returns, deaths, other removals, shipments, and cattle still on feed.
Keep every difference open until a named reviewer records the cattle's location or final disposition.
The closeout balance
Make the cattle record add up before reviewing performance
A closeout should begin with the cattle balance, not the performance average.
Start with received cattle. Add cattle moved into the group, then subtract transfers out, removals, and shipments.
The result should match the cattle still present. If it does not, the performance record rests on an unresolved count.
Use one lot or group ID throughout. Keep the animal's individual ID when the yard, care, or official record requires it.
| Closeout record | What to confirm |
|---|---|
| Opening lot | Lot or group ID, received head, arrival date, source, starting pen, and the yard record used as the baseline |
| Moves in | Cattle added from another pen or group, with time, source pen, destination pen, head count, and recorder |
| Moves out | Pen transfers, hospital pulls, returns, railers, and other moves, each linked to the cattle and destination |
| Removals | Deaths and other removals, with identity or group reference, time, reason code, and the supporting care record |
| Shipments | Load, head count, destination, departure time, market record, and any treatment-withdrawal clearance |
| Remaining cattle | Expected head, observed head by occupied pen, unmatched cattle, coverage limits, and final reviewer |
Why this matters now
National totals make local records more important, not less
The August USDA report counted 11.1 million cattle on feed on August 1, 2026, up 2% from one year earlier.
July placements were down 11%, and marketings were down 7%. Both were the lowest July totals since the series began in 1996.
Those national estimates describe the industry. They cannot explain a missing head, an open pen transfer, or an unmatched load in one yard.
Kansas State's Focus on Feedlots also starts from completed closeouts. It summarizes days on feed, gain, harvest weight, feed conversion, cost, and death loss.
Each measure becomes more useful after the cattle balance and source records are complete.
Seven steps for a reviewable closeout
Move from the yard record to a resolved count
Freeze the closing time
Choose one timestamp. Stop mixing counts and movement records from different review windows.
Start with the yard record
Export the lot roster, expected head, current pens, treatment status, and planned shipments. Keep the original export.
Add every movement
Total pen transfers, pulls, returns, hospital moves, railer moves, and cattle joined from another group.
Confirm removals and shipments
Match each death, other removal, and marketed load to its recorded cattle, count, time, and destination.
Check every occupied pen
Compare the expected count with cattle observed in home, hospital, receiving, shipping, and other active pens.
Open an exception for each gap
Give the reviewer the lot, pen, count difference, source record, camera view, coverage note, and next check.
Close with a named reviewer
Record the corrected count, supporting evidence, final disposition, reviewer, and completion time. Preserve the change history.
Health and identity records
Keep marketing clearance and official identity beside the count
Beef Quality Assurance guidance calls for accurate treatment records and withdrawal dates before cattle are marketed.
It also says appropriate health records should move with cattle between production units or owners.
USDA APHIS guidance requires all forms of identification when an official document calls for animal identity.
A feedlot closeout should preserve those records. A camera record can support location review, but it does not replace official identification or care documentation.
How Livestock Technologies helps
Compare the expected lot with cattle observed by pen
Livestock Technologies builds camera-based observed pen inventory for commercial feedlots.
The workflow compares expected cattle with observed cattle in configured views. It can surface count differences and possible movements for review.
Source imagery, time, pen, coverage state, and visual identity references stay connected to the exception.
Those records complement EID, RFID, treatment, shipment, and yard records. People still confirm the cattle and close the final record.
See the commercial feedlot inventory workflow, monitoring map, and Tuskegee field evidence.
Coverage boundary
An observed count must carry its camera limits
Cattle can overlap, leave the view, stand behind structures, or move while a count is being reviewed.
Glare, darkness, weather, obstruction, outages, and temporary pen use can also change what the camera records.
Keep the source image, review window, camera state, and uncovered area beside each observed count.
A count difference directs the team to a review. It is not proof that an animal is lost, misplaced, shipped, or unrecorded.
Sources & current guidance
Use the source that owns each part of the record
USDA NASS owns the national Cattle on Feed estimates. Kansas State documents the measures used in participating feedlot closeouts.
Beef Quality Assurance covers treatment, withdrawal, and transfer records. USDA APHIS explains official animal identification.
The feedlot owns the current yard record, cattle locations, movements, shipments, corrections, and final closeout approval.
Practical next step
Bring one closeout that does not reconcile cleanly
Bring the lot roster, pen map, movement log, shipment record, and unresolved count. We will map the observed-inventory review around that work.
Plan a feedlot inventory review