Managing for Profit

Expansion and heavier cattle weigh on prices

A cattle market analyst says herd expansion and heavier cattle are contributing to softening prices.  The market has carved out a range in which cattle will trade over the next 12 to 18 months, according to Lance Zimmerman of Cattle Fax.

“Just based on supply alone, we’re going to be seeing prices going forward that the highs are going to be a little bit lower than the previous year and the lows are likely to be a little lower than the previous year,” Zimmerman told Brownfield Ag News Wednesday prior to addressing the American Angus Convention in Overland Park, Kansas, “but thankfully demand’s not falling out of bed.”

There are indications that producers are still of a mindset to build the cow herd and produce a bigger crop of calves, said Zimmerman.  That, he pointed out, is evident from the number of females being retained with the apparent intention of using them for breeding.

AUDIO: Lance Zimmerman (3 min. MP3)