Livestock Markets

Secretary Rollins takes decisive action and shuts down cattle, bison and equine trade due to further northward spread of the devastating pest in Mexico.

Following a New World screwworm assessment by USDA staff in Mexico and ongoing conversations between Secretary Rollins and the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture, USDA will start reopening the ports for cattle, bison and equine.

USDA’s latest Cattle Inventory report showed U.S. beef cattle numbers fell to the lowest level in 64 years to start the year. Tight supplies and strong demand could push cattle prices to even higher highs in 2025, but uncertainty is infusing more risk and volatility into the markets.

Total beef production is down a scant 0.7 percent so far this year and may end the year equal to year ago levels. Despite this, wholesale and retail beef prices are higher thus far in 2024.

In just a few buck-wild months in 2015, a Texas grifter pulled off a swindle nearing $100M, and turned the cattle industry into his playground, stirring more cash than some of the largest beef companies in the U.S.

Estimated cattle industry losses due to COVID-19 will reach $13.6 billion, according to a study by ag economists conducted to assist USDA in determining how best to allocate CARES Act relief funds to cattle producers.

The packing industry is driven by throughput capacity and the utilization of that capacity. Packers compete for cattle to accommodate that capacity just as feedlots compete for feeder cattle.