(Bloomberg) -- Feedlot operators reduced purchases of young cattle by 8.7% in June from a year earlier as corn prices soared to a record -- 13% below the five-year average for the month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. "Cattle feeders have been losing money," said Ron Plain, an economist at the University of Missouri. Feedlots "don't want them to eat any more high-dollar corn so we keep them on grass longer." Corn, the main ingredient in cattle feed, is up 82% from a year ago, reaching a record $7.99 a bushel on June 27. Cattle feeders lost $32.41 per animal sold a year earlier.
