Economics

May Cattle on Feed Down 3 Percent

– James Mitchell, Livestock Marketing Specialist, University of Arkansas

USDA-NASS released the May Cattle on Feed report last Friday, providing us with the fifth data point of the year for cattle on feed numbers. According to the report, the number of cattle and calves on feed in feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head was 11.6 million on May 1, 2023, 3.4 percent lower than the previous year. Overall, except for cattle placement numbers which we will discuss shortly, there were no major surprises in the report. Everyone expected the report to stick with the trend we have observed all year, declining cattle numbers across the board.


Overall, the United States cattle on feed inventory was 97% of the previous year. Most states showed a decrease in cattle on feed inventories compared to May 1, 2022. Feedlot inventories in Texas and Oklahoma were 96% and 91% of the previous year, respectively. Kansas feedlot inventories were 2% lower compared to last year. Cattle on feed inventories were 5% lower in Nebraska and 2% higher in Iowa. This year cattle on feed numbers are Continue reading →

Are you charging enough for your hay?

– Andrew Holden, OSU Extension Educator ANR, Ashtabula County

Have you considered what a fair price for hay might be?

With hay inventories at all-time lows, are you charging a competitive rate? What is a fair price to charge for hay? Are you still making a profit on your hay sales with rising input cost? Those making hay should consider the recent market changes, long-term trends, and personal enterprise cost to make sure their hay is priced fairly and competitively.

Let’s take a look at some of the hay numbers, both nationally and at the state level, as well as some tools to help hay producers fully reconcile their input cost.

National Hay Inventory
Last December the USDA reported that hay inventories in the United States were at approximately 71.9 million tons. This was a decrease of 7 million tons from the year before, roughly a 9% difference. This follows the trend over the last 20 years of decreasing hay stocks and has put us at the lowest Continue reading →

“You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know”

– Dr. Les Anderson, Extension Professor, University of Kentucky

Centuries ago, the Greek philosopher Socrates coined the phrase “You don’t know what you don’t know”. I randomly heard this last week, and it struck me how apropos this is to cow-calf producers and the beef industry. So, what “don’t you know”?

According to the USDA NAHMS survey in 2017, less than 20% of cow-calf producers in the US obtain a breeding soundness exam (BSE) on their bulls. A breeding soundness exam is performed by your herd veterinarian and is designed to identify INFERTILE bulls; those bulls that do not have the ability to breed cows. A BSE is inexpensive insurance that your bull can breed cows. It eliminates bulls that have physical issues that would prevent them from breeding cows, and it eliminates bulls that no longer can produce viable sperm. A producer occasionally, but not always, can tell if a bull pulls up lame and if they have an injury to the reproductive tract. But it is impossible to determine if the bull no longer produces viable sperm without performing a BSE. So “you don’t know what you don’t know” unless you have a BSE done annually in your herd sires.

This same USDA survey, less than 20% of cow-calf producers have pregnancy diagnosed in their herd. Pregnancy diagnosis is another simple, inexpensive tool that can be used to help increase Continue reading →

Regardless of the Market, Don’t Stop Doing the Little Things

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

It’s mid-May and a lot of fall born calves have moved through markets at price levels that have not been seen for quite some time. Others have been placed into growing programs with the anticipation of strong feeder cattle price levels this fall. Even a quick look at the drought monitor suggests that rainfall conditions have improved in a lot of areas from where they stood last fall. Given tight supplies, there is reason to expect relatively strong calf prices to persist over the next of couple years.

I wanted to discuss something that comes up occasionally as I talk with producers at Extension programs. In strong markets like the current one, I will sometimes hear producers say something implying that prices are high enough that they are less inclined to Continue reading →

Higher Beef Prices Begin to Bite, for Some

– David P. Anderson, Professor and Extension Economist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Higher cattle prices are welcome (and overdue) news to ranchers as they are necessary to return to profitability following higher production costs.  Higher wholesale beef prices are more difficult news to restaurants as they work to put together options that are competitively priced for their customers.

In this part of the world briskets are an important (or maybe I should say THE important) cut for BBQ restaurants.  Higher prices are being reflected in price quotes from suppliers.  In the broader wholesale market as reflected by the comprehensive cutout value only the short plate, flank, and loin have increased more than briskets this year.  The primal brisket in the comprehensive cutout has increased 16 percent since the first of the year, from $2.12 per pound to $2.46 per pound.  Smaller restaurants are likely Continue reading →

Rise of craft breweries in the southeastern USA increases supplement availability for beef cattle

– Deidre D. Harmon and Kendra P. Phipps, Applied Animal Science 38:540–550 https://doi.org/10.15232/aas.2022-02315

The craft brewing industry in the United States has seen major growth in the last 2 decades and in 2021 was a $26.8 billion industry with sales of 24,489,945 beer barrels (BBLS). According to data by the Brewers Association (2021) online database, the $100.2 billion US beer market is dominated by domestic beer, owning 65.9% of the total market share. However, the market share held by the craft brewing industry has grown from 5.68% in 2011 to 13.1% as of 2021.

The increase in market share and the rise of craft breweries across the nation can be attributed to the consumer demand for more bold and flavorful beers that have been brewed locally. Most of this growth has come in the form of microbreweries, taprooms, and brewpubs with the aid of a few regional craft breweries opening as well.

LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES

Despite positive nutritional characteristics, the high moisture content of wet brewers grain continues to be one of the most limiting factors for its use on beef cattle farms. In most scenarios, the economics of hauling wet feed long distances from production source to end user is not Continue reading →

National Feeder and Stocker Receipts Higher to Start 2023

– Josh Maples, Assistant Professor & Extension Economist, Department of Agricultural Economics, Mississippi State University

The number of feeder and stocker cattle sold during the first four months of 2023 was about four percent higher than during the same period in 2022 according to data from the USDA-AMS National Feeder and Stocker Cattle Summary. Strong prices and persistent drought in some regions likely contributed to these higher totals despite the smaller calf crop in 2022.

Shown in the chart above, receipts have generally followed the seasonal pattern of declining sales through the first four months. This dataset includes auction, direct, and video/internet sales that are reported to USDA. It does Continue reading →

Higher Beef Prices Begin to Bite, for Some

– David P. Anderson, Professor and Extension Economist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Higher cattle prices are welcome (and overdue) news to ranchers as they are necessary to return to profitability following higher production costs.  Higher wholesale beef prices are more difficult news to restaurants as they work to put together options that are competitively priced for their customers.

In this part of the world briskets are an important (or maybe I should say THE important) cut for BBQ restaurants.  Higher prices are being reflected in price quotes from suppliers.  In the broader wholesale market as reflected by the comprehensive cutout value only the short plate, flank, and loin have increased more than briskets this year.  The primal brisket in the comprehensive cutout has increased 16 percent since the Continue reading →

Precision Livestock Farming to Improve Efficiency

– Garth Ruff, Beef Cattle Field Specialist, OSU Extension

Can we capitalize on gained efficiency within the production system?

Over the winter meeting season, it’s been said many times that there are opportunities to be profitable given the current state of the beef industry. In the most simple of economic terms, Profit = Revenue – Input Costs. In order to increase profits we can do one of the following: 1) increase revenue, 2) reduce input costs, or 3) improve efficiency throughout the production cycle.

When every pound of calf produced has record (or near record) value, how do we capitalize on gained efficiency within the production system?

First off, we cannot manage what we do not measure, or record. Keeping Continue reading →

Strategically Using Pregnancy Diagnosis to Identify Nonpregnant Cows

– Pedro L. P. Fontes, Extension Beef Reproductive Physiologist, Department of Animal and Dairy Science; A. Lee Jones, Associate Professor, UGA College of Veterinary Medicine; Tammy W. Cheely, Glascock, Hancock and Warren Counties Extension Coordinator, UGA Extension Office; and Savannah Tanner, Emmanuel County Agriculture & Natural Resource Agent

Asymmetry between the uterine horns can be used to detect pregnant females through rectal palpation.

Pregnancy diagnosis is an important part of reproductive management in productive beef cow-calf operations. Open cows decrease profitability as they utilize similar resources as pregnant cows without producing a marketable calf to justify these costs. With the move toward more efficient operations and inclusion of artificial insemination (AI) and other reproductive technologies in cattle production, abstaining from pregnancy diagnosis may no longer be economically viable or practical. Establishing a pregnancy diagnosis program allows for the detection of cows that are not pregnant and allows producers to make management decisions to increase reproductive efficiency, such as culling of infertile females or resynchronizing females that are open.

Although the economic benefits of incorporating pregnancy diagnosis are clear, the rate of adoption by beef cow-calf operations is considerably low in the United States. This article provides an overview of the different methods available (rectal palpation, transrectal ultrasound, and blood tests) for pregnancy diagnosis and provides a practical description of how to implement these methods.

Continue reading Strategically Using Pregnancy Diagnosis to Identify Nonpregnant Cows