The U.S. cattle herd is shrinking, boosting prices for producers, but causing concerns down the line.
Oklahoma state ag economist, Dr. Darrell Peel, says that the beef industry has been cyclical for 150 years, but that pattern may be changing in 2025.
“If you’re following it at all, you know that we’ve got record-high cattle prices across the board for all kinds of cattle. We’ve got record-high beef prices at the wholesale and retail levels, and so there’s lots of supply-driven fundamentals here that are really driving the market. We’ve had an incredible beef demand to match that, which is why we can maintain these record-high prices at the consumer level, but there’s also lots of challenges along the way.”
Those challenges, Dr. Peel says, start to show up at the processor level.
“Everybody is really caught in this, in this challenging, sort of adverse, buy-sell margin because of the supply-driven price increases from the bottom up in terms of animal production. And so, that’s the environment that everybody’s in right now, and you know, again, without getting into too much of the detail, the bottom line is it’s going to be a while— this is not going to be a fast process.”
With herd expansion yet to really begin, he predicts that we will stay in a high price environment for the rest of the decade.
China’s stricter inspection rules prompt Cargill to pause soybean exports from Brazil, briefly lifting U.S. soybean prices as traders anticipate potential shifts in global trade, as export demand remains supportive across all major U.S. commodities.
March 13, 2026 12:57 PM
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Severe drought in South Texas is forcing ranchers to consider cattle sell-offs as feed and water supplies dwindle, threatening herd health and livestock operations.
March 12, 2026 05:09 PM
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Dr. David Anderson with Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension discusses how geopolitical tensions and the Middle East, along with export disruptions in the Chinese market, will shape cattle markets in the months ahead.
March 12, 2026 12:54 PM
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A man accused of orchestrating a nationwide cattle investment fraud scheme has been arrested in California after being on the FBI’s wanted list.
March 12, 2026 11:33 AM
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Ben Kurtzman with American Farmland Trust discusses the growing pressure on farmland and ranchland and the steps being taken to help conserve farms and ranches across the country ,as unrest in the Middle East adds more obstacles for producers.
March 11, 2026 03:18 PM
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Jake Charleston of Specialty Risk Insurance offers his perspective on current cattle market conditions and shares advice for producers seeking to stay protected in an uncertain market.
March 10, 2026 03:08 PM
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