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📰 OSU Cow-Calf Corner Newsletter Archives
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📅 2025-11-10
Cow-Calf Corner
The latest edition in the torrent of recent political attentions directed at the cattle
and beef industry includes allegations of market manipulation against the beef packing
industry. Beef packers are the one segment that has been most negatively impacted
in the current market, incurring huge losses due to poor margins and l...
📅 2025-11-03
Cow-Calf Corner
Cattle futures and cash markets were pummeled by a barrage of politics the past two
weeks. Negative market reactions piled up under a slew of political statements and
proposals along with rumors about additional political actions that left market traders
and producers running for the sidelines. Feeder cattle dropped $200-$30...
📅 2025-10-27
Cow-Calf Corner
High cattle and beef prices are suddenly receiving intense scrutiny from politicians,
consumers and the media. While it seems to many that the situation has only recently
happened, it has, in fact, been developing for several years. The beef cow herd on
January 1, 2025 was 27.86 million head, down 3.78 million head, or 11.9 ...
📅 2025-10-20
Cow-Calf Corner
Argentina is the sixth largest beef producing country and the fifth largest beef exporting
country, accounting for roughly 6 percent of global beef exports. Argentine beef production
is about 27 percent of total U.S. production. In recent years, Argentine beef exports
have been growing with the majority of beef exports going t...
📅 2025-10-13
Cow-Calf Corner
Boxed beef cutout values peaked at Labor Day and fell through September. On a daily
basis, the Choice boxed beef cutout peaked on September 3 at $416.01/cwt. and bottomed
one month later on October 3 at $362.27/cwt. before stabilizing. Fall is when beef
demand transitions from a grilling focus to cool-weather crock pot cooki...
📅 2025-10-06
Cow-Calf Corner
Increasingly, cattle producers, consumers, and policymakers are asking how high cattle
prices will go; when will they reach a peak; and what happens after the peak. Questions
about the cyclical peak in cattle prices and the trajectory of prices past the peak
depend on factors that are still unknown at this time. We do not ye...
📅 2025-09-29
Cow-Calf Corner
The U.S. cattle and beef industry is arguably one of the most complex set of markets
in the world. One of many factors that adds to cattle industry complexity is the
wide range of environments and the diverse production systems that are used to successfully
produce cattle in those environments. Cattle production is the prima...
📅 2025-09-15
Cow-Calf Corner
The USDA Choice boxed beef cutout was $404.77/cwt. last week, down from the year-to-date
peak of $413.60/cwt. in the first week of September. The current boxed beef value
is 31.7 percent higher than one year ago, with all primal values higher year over
year. Rib primals are up 31.5 percent; loin primals, up 31.4 per...
📅 2025-09-08
Cow-Calf Corner
Cattle and beef markets started a strong run up about three years ago in late 2022.
Price increases at various levels of cattle and beef markets have had differing impacts
on the complex set of market levels in the industry. Combined Oklahoma auction prices for 500-pound steers (M/L, No.1) pushed higher for
the eleventh conse...
📅 2025-09-01
Cow-Calf Corner
Unseasonably cool and wet weather in late August has resulted in the best prospects
for early planted wheat in several years. Ample rain across much of Oklahoma, especially
in major wheat production areas, is providing the moisture and cool soil temperatures
necessary for wheat germination. Early wheat establishment...
📅 2025-08-25
Cow-Calf Corner
The latest USDA-NASS Cattle on Feed report shows August 1 feedlot inventories at 10.922
million head, down 1.6 percent year over year. This is the eighth consecutive smaller
monthly inventory and is the smallest monthly feedlot total since October 2017 (Figure
1). The 12-month moving average of feedlot inventories, ...
📅 2025-08-18
Cow-Calf Corner
Feeder cattle prices continue to push to unimaginable highs leaving producers and
traders increasingly nervous. Last week, in Oklahoma auctions, 500-pound, M/L #1
steers brought $451.90/cwt. ($2,260/head) and 800-pound, M/L #1 steers were priced
at $352.55/cwt. ($2,820/head). All feeder steers (M/L #1) below 1050 p...
📅 2025-08-11
Cow-Calf Corner
Cattle and beef markets are very complex and impacted by many factors. At any point
in time some factors will be more important and receive lots of attention while others
are temporarily ignored. With cattle markets dominated by cattle inventory and cyclical
dynamics, the following items are not being discussed much for now....
📅 2025-08-04
Cow-Calf Corner
Why worry about winter grazing in early August? In just a few weeks, producers interested
in grazing winter wheat (or other cool season cereals) for dual-purpose or forage-only
grazing will be thinking about planting for fall/winter grazing. It’s not too early
to begin evaluating the economic and agronomic conditions and con...
📅 2025-07-28
Cow-Calf Corner
The July Cattle on Feed (COF) report showed the continued decrease in feedlot inventories.
Feedlot placements in June were down 7.9 percent year over year, more than expected.
June feedlot marketings were down 4.4 percent year over year, in line with pre-report
expectations. Over the past six months, total placements were 5....
📅 2025-07-21
Cow-Calf Corner
Drought conditions have diminished significantly in much of the eastern two-thirds
of the country while drought continues to expand and deepen in the west, Pacific Northwest
and across the northern plains areas of Montana and North Dakota (Figure 1). Drought
conditions have improved in the past two months in several major beef...
📅 2025-07-14
Cow-Calf Corner
The summer doldrums between Independence Day and Labor Day usually means slack beef
demand. Indeed, the Choice boxed beef cutout dropped from the end of June to a current
weekly average of $386.75/cwt., down from the recent high of $394.19/cwt. However,
boxed beef prices remain 19.1 percent above this time last year and have...
📅 2025-07-07
Cow-Calf Corner
USDA-APHIS has announced a slow phased reopening of the Mexican border for imports
of cattle, bison and horses in the coming weeks. Progress has been made in containing
the spread of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Mexico with expanded control measures and
increased cooperation with Mexican officials. The plan calls for opening...
📅 2025-06-30
Cow-Calf Corner
Coming into the July 4 holiday, wholesale ground beef prices pushed to new record
levels. Prices for 90 percent lean trimmings, which are the backbone of ground beef
markets, have increased continually the past three years (Figure 1). Decreased cow
slaughter, down 5.8 percent year over year in 2023 and another 15.4 percent d...
📅 2025-06-23
Cow-Calf Corner
The latest USDA Cattle on Feed report highlights the important distinction between
stocks and flows in data. Cattle on Feed is a stock (or inventory) value at a point
in time, while placements and marketings are flows of cattle through feedlots. Feedlot
placements of cattle in May were down 7.8 percent year over year, a sligh...
📅 2025-06-16
Cow-Calf Corner
The January 1, 2025 beef cow inventory was 27.86 million head, down 0.5 percent from
the previous year. Was 2025 the smallest cow herd inventory for the current cattle
cycle? It is looking more likely that it might be the low. Herd growth this year
depends on the amount of cow culling relative to the supply of bred heifers ...
📅 2025-06-09
Cow-Calf Corner
The latest beef trade data shows a continuation of recent trends – decreased exports
and increased imports. Beef exports in April were down 8.6 percent year over year
and are down 4.2 percent for the January – April period. Beef imports were up 44.9
percent year over year in April and up 28.4 percent for the year-to-date. In...
📅 2025-06-02
Cow-Calf Corner
Strong seasonal demand and recent decreases in beef production have pushed beef prices
sharply higher recently. The last week May, Choice boxed beef price was $364.92/cwt.,
up 16.5 percent year over year and has increased 7.7 percent in just the last seven
weeks (Figure 1). Cutout values typically increase to a seasonal pea...
📅 2025-05-26
Cow-Calf Corner
The latest USDA Cattle on Feed report pegs feedlot inventories on May 1 at 11.376
million head, down 1.5 percent year over year. This is the sixth consecutive monthly
decrease year over year in feedlot numbers though the decrease has been minimal thus
far. Figure 1 shows that annual average feedlot totals are slightly...
📅 2025-05-12
Cow-Calf Corner
Continued detection of New World Screwworm (NWS) in southern Mexico, farther north
than initially, has prompted USDA-APHIS to again close the U.S. border to imports
of livestock. The border closed initially last November and reopened in early February
after additional protocols and inspections were implemented. Thus far in 2...
📅 2025-05-05
Cow-Calf Corner
Much of the Southern Plains received significant precipitation in April, providing
a much-improved pasture, hay and pond water situation. In Oklahoma, five of nine
climate divisions had either the first or second wettest period on record from April
4 – May 3, resulting in the second wettest period statewide. Figure 1 shows t...
📅 2025-04-28
Cow-Calf Corner
Cow-calf production is widespread across the country. According to the Cattle report
for January 1, 2025, the five largest beef cow states have 39.1 percent of the total
beef cow herd but a total of 18 states have at least 2 percent of the total beef cow
inventory. The majority of calves move to the middle of the country as ...
📅 2025-04-21
Cow-Calf Corner
The latest USDA Cattle on Feed report pegs feedlot inventories on April 1 at 11.638
million head, down 1.6 percent year over year. The twelve-month moving average of
feedlot inventories is 11.586 million head, the lowest average level since November
2023. March feedlot marketing were 1.725 million head, up 1.1 percent year o...
📅 2025-04-14
Cow-Calf Corner
Pastures are greening up quickly in Oklahoma. April and May are critical months that
set the stage for forage conditions for the bulk of the grazing season. At the current
time there are no major drought concerns in the state. However, the northwest one-third
of the state has received less than 50 percent of normal rainfall...
📅 2025-04-07
Cow-Calf Corner
Cattle market fundamentals have not changed. The industry faces ever tightening feeder
cattle supplies that will eventually lead to decreased feedlot inventories and declining
beef production. The question of heifer retention and herd rebuilding remain very
uncertain as both weather and external factors dim producer expectat...
📅 2025-03-24
Cow-Calf Corner
An invitation to speak at the annual meeting of the Unión Ganadera Regional De Chihuahua
in Chihuahua, Mexico last week provided me an opportunity to get an update on the
tough conditions facing beef cattle producers in northern Mexico. The industry there
is facing multiple threats simultaneously that has cattle producers on ...
📅 2025-03-17
Cow-Calf Corner
Cow-calf producers are enjoying record calf prices but maximizing profits still requires
managing costs. In fact, one of the reasons given for the slow start to heifer retention
is that high costs of production means that producer returns are not yet high enough
to initiate herd rebuilding. While producers may not be able to ...
📅 2025-03-10
Cow-Calf Corner
Cattle prices continue to generally grind higher amid a whirlwind of political activities
and rhetoric that have buffeted markets at all levels. Markets have been whipsawed
with on-again, off-again political announcements that create debilitating uncertainty
in equity, futures and cash markets with negative impacts on produce...
📅 2025-03-03
Cow-Calf Corner
Shrinking cattle inventories in recent years leads to a wide range of impacts on the
multi-sectored cattle industry. Figure 1 shows the rising feeder prices and changes
in price relationships that impact economic incentives of the various cattle production
activities. As feeder cattle prices have risen, the prices for lightwei...
📅 2025-02-24
Cow-Calf Corner
The latest USDA-NASS Cattle on Feed report pegged the February 1 feedlot inventory
at 11.716 million head in feedlots with 1,000+ capacity, down 0.7 percent year over
year. January marketings were 101.4 percent of one year ago and placements were 101.7
percent of last year. The report was well anticipated with values close to...
📅 2025-02-17
Cow-Calf Corner
The all-fresh retail beef price for January was $8.15/lb., up 4.3 percent year over
year. All-fresh beef retail prices have averaged 5.2 percent higher month over month
for the last year leading to retail all-fresh beef prices for the past twelve months
at a record average level of $8.27/lb. Per capita beef consumption in 20...
📅 2025-02-10
Cow-Calf Corner
The latest Cattle report confirms what happened in 2024 – the cattle industry continued
to shrink – but also provides indications of what to expect in 2025. Figure 1 shows
the basic drivers of beef cow herd dynamics. The graph shows heifer retention and
cow culling, both as a percentage of the beef cow inventory. Simply put...
📅 2025-02-03
Cow-Calf Corner
The annual Cattle report from USDA-NASS at the end of January showed that the U.S
cattle industry continued to get smaller in 2024. The inventory of all cattle and
calves was 86.66 million head, down 0.6 percent year over year. This total inventory
was 1.8 percent lower than the recent cyclical low in 2014 and the lowest sinc...
📅 2025-01-27
Cow-Calf Corner
The January USDA-NASS Cattle on Feed report shows a feedlot inventory of 11.823 million
head, down 0.9 percent year over year. January feedlot inventories were down from
December levels meaning that December is the likely seasonal peak in feedlot numbers
this season. Feedlot inventories typically peak in the winter, usually ...
📅 2025-01-20
Cow-Calf Corner
Cattle and beef markets rocketed out of the gate coming into 2025. With no post-holiday
wavering, all cattle and beef markets moved higher in the first half of January –
setting new record price levels to start the new year. This continues the trend of
the last three years. Cattle prices began to move higher after 2021 and i...
📅 2025-01-13
Cow-Calf Corner
Larger May 1 stocks and increased year over year hay production led to larger hay
supplies in 2024 (Figure 1). Total hay production in 2024 was up 3.3 percent year
over year and combined with May 1 hay stocks up 46.6 percent over 2023 levels to increase
the total hay supply by 7.9 percent compared to year earlier levels. The...
📅 2025-01-06
Cow-Calf Corner
Average Oklahoma steer calf prices increased over 61 percent from 2022 to 2024, leading
to a sharp increase in average cow-calf returns (Figure 1). Cow-calf returns vary
significantly across producers due to widely variable costs of production, but the
message is clear – increasingly strong market signals for cow-calf produce...
📅 Recent
Cow Calf Boot Camp
OSU Cooperative Extension Hosting Cow Calf Boot Camp to be held in Kingfisher, OK
April 8-10th 2025 Dana Zook, OSU Cooperative Extension NW Area Livestock Specialist Cow Calf Boot Camp is coming up this spring! This yearly "camp" is a unique OSU Extension
program that is an all-encompassing three-day educational opportunity for cow calf
...