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NCBA president bullish on cattle market

The president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is extremely bullish about the cattle market the next few years.

Todd Wilkinson owns a cow-calf operation near De Smet in east-central South Dakota.

“In terms of 2024 and ’25 and ’26, the horizon for that cow-calf operator looks better than its looked for years.”

He tells Brownfield one reason is the amount of time it’s going to take to rebuild the U.S. cattle herd.

“We are still not getting any herd rebuilding, (and) as that herd rebuilding process starts it’s going to squeeze these numbers even harder when you pull more heifers out of the market. And that is going to put us in a position where we have the ability to see some really good returns.”

In some regions drought has forced producers to cull or sell parts of their herd, but Wilkinson suggests there is opportunity where conditions allow.

“This is a bright spot because you can go into that banker and say ‘I’ve got some good years ahead of me and I need you to help me get into this operation.”

He says for young producers, that has been sorely lacking.