Fed Cattle
Check out the Beef Profit Tracker for week of April 19.
The fed cattle market was sharply higher last week with a $4.29/cwt. upward move.
Check out the Sterling Marketing Beef Profit Tracker ending April 12.
The 2025 fed cattle harvest has run very close to a year ago with the full production weeks averaging 473,000 head, a 1,600-head increase over the same period last year.
Check out the Sterling Marketing Beef Profit Tracker ending March 29.
Introduced in 1965, the USDA Yield Grade system has not been updated since its release even though cattle and technologies have drastically changed.
New program offers two options for Wagyu beef producers — certified meat program and process verified program.
Total beef cattle harvest last week was slightly larger than the prior week at 563,000 head, an increase of 2,000 head.
The total U.S. feedlot inventory on Jan. 1, 2025 was 14.297 million head, including 2.474 million head in feedlots with capacity less than 1,000 head.
In the last two weeks the average weekly fed cattle harvest total has been 480,000 head, a total reduction of 30,000 head (-3%) over the two-week span compared to a year ago.
Joe Morgan, CEO of Poky Feeders based in Scott City, Kan., was inducted into the 2025 Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame during the Cattle Convention in San Antonio, Texas, this year.
Last year’s USDA Cattle Inventory Report showed the smallest cattle herd since 1951. With strong heifer prices and no strong signs of rebuilding underway, the Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor shows supplies may come in even lower than last year.
Live Cattle and Feeder Cattle futures prices have been forced higher as Live Cattle contracts had been lagging negotiated values until recent days.
Total on-feed inventory to start the year was estimated at a little over 11.8 million head, which is down by just under 1% from January of 2024.
With the Trump administration moving forward on its promise of mass deportations, the livestock and agriculture industries are concerned about the disruption and financial impact the loss of workers would put on producers and consumers.
Preliminary UNL Beef research shows no performance loss associated with varying distillers grains in cattle finishing diets.
With no post-holiday wavering, all cattle and beef markets moved higher in the first half of January – setting new record price levels to start the new year.
Top of mind issues for producers and managers with cattle in feedyard or drylot pens during winter weather include bedding, nutritional needs and equipment.
Cash cattle averaged $204.12 per cwt., up from last week, while lean carcass hog prices came in at $81.79 per cwt.
Outgoing USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack sent a letter to Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture acknowledging the progress made in reopening cattle trade between the two countries following the detection of New World Screwworm, but says more action is needed to resume trade.
Now in mid-January, the cattle markets are showing exceptional optimism. Packers were actively bidding to capture spot market needs.
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) suspended imports of live cattle and bison from Mexico on Nov. 22, 2024, following the detection of New World screwworm (NWS) along Mexico’s southern border.
Feeder auction trading is finished for the year with new record prices in 2024.
Calf and feeder cattle prices have been much more active in the past three weeks with two market-moving events, including precipitation in the central states and the temporary closure of the southern border due to screwworms.
Heifers made up 39.7 percent of the total feedlot inventory on Oct. 1, up slightly from the 39.6 percent in July.
Market update for week of Oct. 23 and a look at how carcass weigh and ribeye sizes correlates..
The Klosterman Feedlot Innovation Center is a $7.2-million project that is taking a new approach to research by focusing on performance, environmental issues and animal-welfare challenges in the beef industry.
Bigger weights, more days on feed, improved quality – they’re all part of a longer-run story. None of that’s likely to change. Once productivity and quality gains occur, it’s hard to ever go back.
The packing industry is much more complicated than a plant’s slaughter capacity alone. Capacity, economies of scale, labor, and debt are all critical to financial success.
Ag tech startup MyAnIML and USDA find first-of-its-kind facial recognition technology successfully analyzes cattle muzzles to predict illness.