Calves
A historic lack of winter moisture and drying water sources are forcing Wyoming and Nebraska producers to make gut-wrenching choices. At Torrington Livestock Markets, sales volume has surged to nine times its normal seasonal average.
Despite record-high cash costs of $780 per head, surging calf prices pushed average profit margins up by $614 in 2025.
Forecasters say roughly 230 million people are in the path of a dangerous winter storm threatening to drop crippling amounts of snow and ice as temperatures fall into the single digits.
In addition to increasing carcass counts, wolves decrease reproduction rates, weaning weights, calf health and human well-being — costs often uncompensated or uncounted.
Strong demand supports beef prices amid economic volatility, but herd investment and growth slows as producers grapple with increasing uncertainty due to political noise.
Oklahoma State’s Derrell Peel says the beef industry needs time — not politics or policy — to solve beef supply and demand realities.
Although warning signs are emerging, economists say record-high beef prices could hold for up to two more years. Tight supplies and strong demand continue to drive the market, but economists and producers are apprehensive with talks of reopening the border.
Native to east Asia, the ALHT was first detected in New Jersey in 2017. Since then, it has spread to more than 20 states with recent confirmations in Illinois, Michigan and Iowa.