Three weeks into the new year and the cattle market continues to set new record highs. The 5-market average fed cattle price hit $203 on Friday, January 17th, creeping higher from the $202 per cwt average of the week before. This current price rally is continuing the rising price trend that began late in 2024. Historically, it would not be unusual for prices to pull back in February before climbing even higher to a Spring rally.
Rising prices are not limited to the fed cattle market. Calf and feeder cattle prices have shared in the rally. Feeder cattle, 700-800 pound steers reported by Georgia auctions hit $251 per cwt last week, $42 per cwt higher than this time last year. In the Southern Plains, cattle of that same weight category hit $279 per cwt. The weekly average Choice beef cutout increased to $329.03 per cwt, just slightly below the mid-2024 peak of $329.96. Positive beef and cattle demand is contributing to higher prices. Some tighter supplies of feeder cattle and calves due to the restriction on calves from Mexico, feedlot placements earlier in the year, and maybe some withholding of heifers from auctions are boosting feeder prices. It appears that the resumption of feeder cattle imports from Mexico are going to be further delayed as new facilities and inspection procedures remain in the works.
USDA’s January Cattle on Feed report is scheduled to be released on Friday of this week. The pre-report estimates indicate feedlot marketings about 1.4 percent higher than December of the year before. Analysts’ expectations for feedlot placements range from above to below a year ago. The combination of placements and marketings leads to January 1 feedlot numbers slightly below those of a year ago. This report will have the quarterly breakdown of steers and heifers in feedlots which will add another data point to expectations of the start of cowherd expansion.
Anderson, David. “New Record High Prices.” Southern Ag Today 5(4.2). January 21, 2025. Permalink
