Nebraska feedlots with capacities of 1,000 or more head contained 2.56 million cattle on feed as of December 1, 2011.

The Nebraska Field Office of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service says the inventory was up 4 percent from 2010 and marks the largest December 1st inventory since records were first kept in 1994.

Placements in feedlots during November totaled 480,000 head, up 8 percent from last year.

Marketings of fed cattle during November totaled 375,000 head, down 5 percent from 2010.