Cash Cattle See Jump

Prepared and written by Jeff Swenson, DATCP Livestock and Meat Specialist. The Market Update draws information from several sources, including trade publications, radio broadcasts, agricultural news services, individuals involved in the industry as well as USDA NASS and AMS reports.

Cash Cattle

Cash cattle were $2 higher last week, with some reports of bids $3 higher. The five-area weighted average for beef breed steers was $186.09/cwt. October will be a challenging month for the beef sector. Show lists in Texas and Nebraska were larger this week, although fewer cattle were on offer in many parts of the country. There were reports of negotiated trade as early as Tuesday this week indicating packers may be short of cattle. Many cattle feeders say the breakeven on their closest to market ready cattle is $190/cwt. This comes at a time when packer margins are in the red. Estimated harvest last week was 612,000 head, 2,000 more than the previous week. The total was equal to the same week in 2023. It is just the second time this year the weekly harvest total matched that of last year. The last time was the first week of February. The total has not exceeded last year, with year-to-date harvest trailing last year by 3.9%. The Choice beef cutout value averaged $298.98 last week, making it $2.94 lower than average from the week prior. The cutout showed strength early this week. USDA released a Cold Storage report last week and it had little impact on the market. Frozen beef supplies were unchanged from last year and 16% less than the 2018-2022 average. 

High Choice and Prime Beef

High Choice and Prime beef breed steers were mostly steady, bringing $180-$188/cwt with some packages reported from $189-$190/cwt. Choice steers and heifers ranged from $163-$180/cwt. Holstein steers were steady to higher. High grading steers brought $163-$175 with some to $178/cwt. Lower grading steers brought $130-$163. Silage fed, under finished or heavy dairy breed steers brought $75-$130/cwt. Dairy x Beef steers were steady to $1 higher, bringing $138-$181 with a few to $187/cwt. Cows were lower. Most of the cows brought $90-$117/cwt with some to the high $120s/cwt. Lower yielding cows brought $75-$89, and doubtful health and thin cows brought up to $75/cwt. Dairy breed bull calves were lower, selling from $200-$400/head with some heavier, well-managed calves selling to $625/head. Dairy breed heifer calves brought $100-400/head. Beef and Beef Cross calves were selling to $950/head. Light and lower quality calves sold up to $15.