Cattle and Beef Markets from All Directions

Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist

The ten days leading up to Memorial Day were very busy and touched on many aspects of cattle and beef markets – with lots of driving.

Days 1-3

The adventure began with travel from Oklahoma to New Mexico.  Pasture conditions were very dry, punctuated by numerous wildfires across the Texas Panhandle and in New Mexico.  New Mexico is currently reporting 60 percent of pasture and range in poor to very poor condition.   The Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC) meeting in Las Cruces included, among others, a presentation on cattle and sheep predation losses due to Mexican wolves.

Day 4

The following day, the LMIC group toured the (very quiet) cattle border crossing facility at Santa Teresa, New Mexico.  The border has been mostly closed since November 2024. The group included numerous university and agency folks who had not been to the border before. It’s an impressive facility that accounts for roughly 50 percent of Mexican cattle entering the U.S. when it is operational. Presentations on the history and operation of the facility were augmented by comments from the current president of the Union Ganadera Regional de Chihuahua on the impact of the border closure in Mexico and ongoing developments.

Days 5-6

Next was a return to Oklahoma City for the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Spring conference.  I was part of a very dynamic panel discussion on U.S. and international cattle and beef markets.  Take-home messages in this discussion included the importance of rebuilding the market in China and the vital need to maintain the U.S. – Mexico – Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA) in the upcoming review.

Day 7

This was the one day in the office at OSU to catch up on email.  Featured that day was the release of the May Cattle on Feed report showing the first year over year increase in feedlot inventories in 18 months.  April placements were up 5.5 percent over last year and marketings were down 10.0 percent year over year.  The numbers do not suggest any significant change in feedlot supply fundamentals but some changes in timing with feedlots slightly more front-loaded in the next few months.  The day included five media interviews about the COF report and other topics.

Day 8

The day was filled with driving north from Oklahoma, across Kansas to I-80 in Nebraska and turning west.  Passing Grand Island brought to mind the JBS plant there and the challenges packers are having due to reduced cattle volume.  A few miles west and we passed Lexington, Nebraska – home of the first casualty of prolonged reductions in cattle inventory with the closure earlier this year of the Tyson plant there.  Farther west yet was North Platte, home to the new Sustainable Beef packing facility.  Nebraska is home to the most commercial cattle slaughter of any state.  Approaching Scottsbluff, the dry conditions were evident.  Nebraska is currently reporting 83 percent of pasture and range in poor to very poor condition.

Day 9

Pushing west out of Nebraska, we passed through Torrington, Wyoming where the livestock auction has reported unusually large volume sales in recent weeks due to drought liquidation in the region.  Wyoming pasture and range conditions are currently reported at 65 percent poor to very poor.  Ranges were slightly greener in northern Wyoming compared to most of the eastern part of the state.

Day 10

Memorial Day in Montana.  The kickoff to summer grilling – with boxed beef prices this week at $392.65/cwt., up 9.3 percent compared to the same time last year.  The boxed beef cutout has averaged 14.8 percent higher year over year every week thus far in 2026. Beef demand continues to be very robust and resilient, which combines with the multi-decade low in cattle inventories to support unprecedented cattle and beef markets.

I have driven about 3100 miles the last ten days with a wide range of cattle industry sights and conditions from the Mexican border almost to the Canadian border.  I’m headed to the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) meeting in Boise, Idaho next week before returning to Oklahoma.

Cattle Facilities and Safety

Mark Z. Johnson, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Breeding Specialist

Profitability in the cow-calf sector over the past several years creates the potential to upgrade cattle working facilities. Good design and layout of pens, chutes and alleyways can lead to improved profit potential in cow-calf operations but requires intentionality and proper planning. Objectives of good cattle working facilities include reducing stress on the animals, increasing the efficiency of labor, and the safety of both cattle and humans alike. Proper facility design and good stockmanship skills are critically important to handling cattle as safely and efficiently as possible. A good working facility, understanding animal behavior and good animal husbandry skills all work in synergy with regard the safe handling of cattle. Consider the following when planning facility upgrades and layout:

• Animal behavior
  
• Site selection
• Lighting
  
• Drainage
  
• Surface (dirt, rock, concrete)
  
• Number of animals to be worked
  
• Size of animals to be worked
  
• Frequency of use
  

Effective stockmanship is typically the result of understanding the following aspects of cattle behavior:

• Cattle want to see you
  
• Cattle do not like to be alone, they will go to other cattle
  
• Cattle typically have one thought at a time, they are motivated by fear and have a “fight or flight” mentality
• Cattle want to remove pressure
• Cattle have a flight zone
  
• Cattle have a point of balance

The Human Element

For those of us who work in production agriculture, physical risks are inherent on a daily basis. Agricultural occupations are consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous. An OSU study done by researchers in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering showed that over 50% of injuries sustained while working cattle were the result of human error. Equipment and facilities were perceived as the cause about 25% of the time. In most cases, a better understanding of how an animal may respond to human interaction and its immediate surroundings will help keep someone from becoming an injury victim. Human errors in judgement are due to a variety of reasons, but are more likely to occur when people are tired, hurried, upset, preoccupied or careless. Remember, the human factor greatly influences the occurrence of life-threatening accidents. Using this information in combination with good facilities and proper cattle handling techniques will reduce the risk of injury.

Chapter 40 of the eighth edition of the OSU Beef Manual is an excellent source of information for producers interested in more information on cattle handling facilities.

Bull Selection, Growth, Feed Efficiency and Carcass Outcomes

Paul Beck, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Nutrition Specialist

Bull selection is one of the most important long-term decisions in a cow-calf operation. Sires influence not only the next calf crop, but also the genetics of replacement females retained in the herd. For that reason, selection pressure should match the ranch’s forage resources, cowherd goals, and marketing endpoint.

Research funded by the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Grant 2022-67016-36201 at Oklahoma State University evaluated steer calves sired by Angus bulls selected for either high or moderate yearling weight EPD to produce calves with divergent post-weaning growth potential. Steers were raised in OSU spring- and fall-calving cowherds, weaned, preconditioned for 60 days, and then finished at the Willard Sparks Beef Research Center.

Weaning weights were not affected by the sire genetics, indicating that the extensive range environment was insufficient for full expression of the genetic potential for pre-weaning growth. As expected, calves from high-growth sires gained faster after weaning and were heavier at harvest, with fewer days on feed. This shows that when nutritional limitations are removed the high-growth steers could really show their true potential. The High-growth steers averaged 1,500 pounds at harvest compared with 1,428 for moderate-growth steers. Hot carcass weight averaged 911 pounds for high-growth steers compared with 884 pounds for moderate-growth steers.

With the increased performance came greater feed intake. High-growth steers consumed more feed per day, averaging 31.5 pounds DM/day compared with 27.5 pounds DM/day for moderate-growth steers, resulting in reduced feed efficiency for high-growth steers. Residual feed intake, an efficiency metric that measures the amount of feed consumed above or below expectations based on the level of performance, favored the moderate-growth steers, indicating they consumed less feed than expected for their body weight and gain. In contrast, residual average daily gain, an efficiency metric that measures the amount of gain above or below expectations based on the amount of feed intake, tended to favor high-growth steers. This illustrates that different feed efficiency measurements describe different biological outcomes. More growth does not always mean better efficiency, but it depends on how you measure it.

Carcass quality also differed. Even though backfat thickness and yield grade were similar, moderate-growth steers had greater percentages of carcasses grading Prime and High Choice. This may reflect differences in maturity pattern and nutrient partitioning, with moderate-growth cattle having more opportunity to deposit intramuscular fat when finished to a similar fat endpoint.

High-growth genetics can increase body weight, carcass weight, and reduce days on feed. But they may also increase feed intake and may not improve all measures of efficiency. Growth EPDs should be considered alongside mature size, feed intake, carcass merit, maternal traits, health, and marketing goals. Increased performance is valuable only when it fits the production system’s environment.