E237: The State of the Beef Industry

Cattle sellers continue to rule in beef markets, fetching record prices in recent months and weeks as expectations for more growth in the cattle herd come up short. But there’s more than just prices to watch as multiple factors — from pests and disease to shifting trade regimes to the state of individual ranch and packing businesses — come into play.To help us find the insights in the noise, we’re joined this week by DTN Livestock Editor Jennifer Carrico, who offers a preview of her May cover story on the State of Beef Markets. She’ll give us some background on expectations coming into 2025, and how factors like growing drought concerns, high carcass weights, and even the high average age of cattle producers are acting against the incentive to hold back heifers and grow individual herds. We’ll also dig into shifts she expects to see over the next few months, from trade-related impacts on feed prices to the impact of newly opened processing facilities in the Midwest. We’ll also talk more about other cattle stories Jenn has worked on recently– with updates on calving practices and genetics to the latest on virtual fencing technologies. Finally, we’ll hear fresh updates from the View from the Range ranchers in Northeastern New Mexico.