– James Mitchell, Livestock Marketing Specialist, University of Arkansas

Many analysts expect the beef cattle industry to expand the cowherd in 2025. This won’t be confirmed until the release of the January 2026 Cattle Inventory Report. When herd expansion begins, replacement heifers and bred cows will become increasingly valuable. As one might expect, replacement heifer and bred cow prices are correlated with feeder cattle prices.

Cows that are open but otherwise healthy can enter two marketing channels: cull cow or bred cow markets. In most circumstances, cows leaving a cow-calf operation are sold as open cull cows. However, cyclical cattle inventories and Continue reading The Relative Value of Bred Cows →

– William Secor, Ph.D. University of Georgia Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics

The ups and downs of summer weather are upon us affecting a host of agricultural markets. The focus of this note is looking at how feed costs can affect cattle markets, specifically corn prices. In general, if growing conditions are worse than expected (e.g., a drought), corn prices increase because markets anticipate a smaller than expected crop. In contrast, if growing conditions are better than expected (e.g., ideal weather), corn prices will fall because markets anticipate a larger than expected crop.

For the cattle sector, as corn prices increase, the cost to feed . . .

Continue reading Beefenomics: Corn-Feeder Cattle Price Connection

– Haley Shoemaker, OSU Extension AGNR Educator, Columbiana and Mahoning Counties (originally published in the Ohio Farmer on-line)

Find out where your ‘benchmarks’ fit among your peers.

These days dropping a cull or feeder calf off at the local auction can feel a little bit like Christmas in July – prices are solid, and markets are strong, largely due to a decline in cattle inventory following years of drought and production challenges.  And while as cattle producers we’re naturally inclined to keep the “when will these prices end” thought in the back of our mind, we also sometimes find ourselves getting comfortable with the idea of $135/cwt for culls or upwards of $300/cwt for calves.

Periods of high prices, such as those the industry is experiencing now, have been known to make the good farm business manager look great, and the mediocre farm manager look good.  Anyone who’s been in business for any amount of time knows that these trends have a way of evening themselves out, but the factor that remains is that a well-managed farm business will stand the test of time, and volatile markets.  One of the tools utilized by beef herd managers across the U.S. is called FINPACK, a financial analysis software service offered in Ohio through the Farm Business Analysis and Benchmarking Team.  Each year, farm analysis teams throughout the country collect data from a variety of enterprises, ranging from beef, dairy, and crops to specialty products and small ruminants.  The data collected from balance sheets, income statements, and enterprise analyses not only provide Continue reading Beef with a Business Mindset →

– Dr. Kenny Burdine, Extension Professor, Livestock Marketing, University of Kentucky

As an Extension economist that focuses in the area of livestock marketing, I always learn a lot by working through questions I get from stakeholders. A couple times each year a farmer or Extension agent will reach out to me hoping to understand what type of arrangement is typical when multiple individuals partner on a cow herd. The reality is that these arrangements tend to be very complex, and each one is unique. Often, one of the individuals provides the majority of the labor and management, while the other owns the land, cattle and equipment. From there, these arrangements vary greatly as to which party provides what and who is responsible for which expenses. It can be difficult to set share agreements up in a way that is attractive to both parties and this article will briefly talk through some of the reasons why.

First, large profits have historically been pretty elusive in the cow-calf business. I am well aware that I am writing this during a time when calf prices are extremely high and that can be seen in the Southern Plains calf price chart above. But the profit levels being seen during Continue reading Common Challenges of Cow-calf Share Arrangements →

– Steven R. Koontz, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University

Memorial Day and the official start of summer are behind us. How is the summer beef demand playing out? The Choice boxed beef composite value rallied above $3 per pound three weeks ago. The rally is favorable to fed cattle markets, but it is very comparable to that seen in March and is a bit softer than last year. The composite value is front and center for me as an indicator of demand going forward. What type of strength do we see? The other historical indicator is the Choice-Select spread. This value spent much of April below $10 per cwt and has just recently rallied into double digits. Last year the value rallied to better than $20 in April and spent much of the last half of last year between $25-$30. The current spread is historically seasonally weak. Market followers will likely suggest moving to a Choice-Prime spread or a Choice versus Program Beef spread as the Select product is currently much less important. I agree but those spreads are also somewhat weak and weaker than last year. Like CH-SL, these other spreads were strong for the last half of last year. Are there rallies in the various spreads through the next month? These will Continue reading Bullish Charts but in Need of Good Demand News →