Tyler Cozzens, agricultural economist with the Livestock Marketing Information Center, shared an update on the global beef market, and Troy Applehans, a senior market analyst with CattleFax, also discussed the current state of the cattle markets and gave an outlook for 2026 at the 2025 Range Beef Cow Symposium held in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Strong beef demand will likely continue in 2025, helped along by potentially tighter supplies as beef producers rebuild their herds and increased engagement in the cattle markets.

Tyrell chats about the cattle cycle and how producers of all scopes and sizes will decide how and when the national cow herd will start its upswing, and about how producers can manage their herds profitably alongside wildlife.

Immediate income opportunities incentivize producers to sell their weaned calves, meaning a greater number of heifers are destined for the cattle feeding sector. Collectively, the cow herd hasn’t expanded as quickly as projected, ushering in amazing value for the replacement female.

Since the purchase price of calves is currently high, there can be a wide price spread between the purchase price of cattle that came from a good vaccination and health program versus cattle that have not.

The USDA’s latest Cattle on Feed report, published May 24, showed that 1.87 million head of fed cattle were marketed in April, a more than 10% increase from the same period last year.

Progressive Cattle Editor Tyrell Marchant visits with Ken Odde from Kansas State University about his work on the newly formed Genetic Merit Pricing Task Force and how he thinks genetic data will impact how cattle are bought, sold and raised in the future. Then, Tyrell sits down with Justin Derner from USDA-ARS at the Range Beef Cow Symposium to discuss what producers can do to make sure their pasture is doing everything it can for their cattle, and vice versa.

The number of straws of beef semen sold to the dairy industry has more than doubled in the last five years, although dairy cow numbers have been relatively stagnant. So what has changed?

“I’ve noticed it before, not just in this cycle,” says Kenny Burdine, extension professor in livestock economics at the University of Kentucky. “There is a tendency with some producers, when prices are high, to almost become satisfied and to be less focused on adding value when they feel like they are getting a pretty good price for their calves.”