There’s a new tick in town, and it’s made its way to 17 different states – ranging from the South all the way up through the East Coast.

CattleFax Vice President of Research and Risk Management Services Mike Murphy’s message about feed prices and availability for the coming year was cautiously optimistic. Even as the end appears to be in sight for countless farmers and ranchers who have dealt with historic drought conditions across the country the past couple years, the economic effects of that drought remain.

Over the next few years as the cattle herd builds back, cull cow prices and all beef prices will rise as the U.S. cycles into tighter supplies, giving more market leverage to the producer.

Profitability for cattle producers – especially the cow-calf operator – is expected to improve to levels the industry hasn’t seen since 2013-15, according to CattleFax CEO Randy Blach.

The three-year lament appears to be ending as readings in the Pacific Ocean portend warming waters in 2023. El Nino weather patterns, when warming Pacific waters create moisture in much of the West and Midwest states, have been missing since 2019. La Nina, the uglier twin sibling of El Nino, where colder ocean temperatures lead to warmer and less water, has hung around since then worsened the Western drought.

Producers can expect to hear the latest on production management and beef technology and get the latest industry market outlook at the 2023 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show in New Orleans, Feb. 1-3.

 In case you haven’t heard, there’s a pretty significant drought on across a big chunk of the U.S. Texas has been hit particularly hard, so much so that drought felt like the unofficial theme of the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course, which took place on the campus in College Station, Texas, Aug. 1-3