Fischer: Prices For Cattle Remain High

According to the USDA’s April Cattle on Feed report, the national cattle herd remains smaller year-over-year, despite efforts to increase inventory.  What do the marketing trends in the industry look like?

USDA livestock analyst Anthony Fischer says when it comes to the number of cattle on feed over 150 days, which he pointed out is typically an indicator of how fast cattle are being marketed, that number continues to grow.

“It's well above a year ago in absolute terms as well as a percent of the number of cattle on feed," Fischer said.  "This is also reflected in heavier dressed weights of slaughter cattle.  Feedlots they continue to sell fed cattle at record high prices. This underscores their willingness to pay higher prices for feeder animals."

Fischer noted the March price of feeder steers, weighing between 750-800 pounds, was up roughly 12% from 2024 figures.  He added that price has been steadily moving up over the past six months.

“Part of what's driving that price increase is the current fed cattle price, which is very strong. In March, the fed cattle price averaged nearly $208 cwt. This is also a record high price for the five areas tiers that we track and it's up 11% from a year ago,” Fischer said.

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