Wrapping Up 2024
contributed article by Kirk Lynch
Lynch Livestock Inc. and Humeston Livestock Exchange, Humeston, Iowa
It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of 2024 and to this point it has been a relatively uneventful year in the cattle markets compared to the past several years. We always seemed to have some event that caused a big dip in the market and took us several months to recover. I guess if that happens here in December you can blame me for jinxing it.
The feeder market has been very solid throughout the fall with a lot of yearling cattle bringing in the mid $2’s. We’ve been seeing several front-end steer calves pushing and a few exceptions of them surpassing the $3 mark. Most are bringing in the high $2 range, most heifers coming in from $10 to $20 back of the steers in both the yearling and calf categories.
The fat cattle market has been steady. It is going to be the common theme with cheap feed that we are going to make these cattle heavier at slaughter which will make it very difficult for this market to get above the $1.80 to $1.90 range that we have been in for a while now. I would look for this to continue for the first part of 2025 and if we continue to make more and more cattle heavier and not stay current on our fat cattle weights, we could easily see a downward trend in the market.
The slaughter bull and cow market mirrors the fat cattle market in the sense that it has been steady here as of late. Usually, this market will take an upswing as we get into January and February as we clean up cows coming off pasture from the fall and the opens and culls from weaning of calves.
The bred cow/heifer market has been very solid this fall and as we start to see some spring bred females come to the barns, I expect them to be in high demand as there are no signs of national cow herd rebuilding its numbers. If that truly is the case and numbers stay tight for cows and feeder cattle, along with cheap feed, it adds up to be a very profitable time for the cow/calf producers.
Well, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. Next time I talk to you it will be 2025!
Kirk Lynch, Lynch Livestock Inc., Lineville, Iowa
Kirk is the beef division manager for Lynch Livestock Inc. and oversees all aspects of their backgrounding and cattle feeding operations throughout Iowa and Kansas. He is also deeply involved in the Humeston Livestock Exchange in Humeston, Iowa. In addition, Kirk and his wife Mary own and operate Heartland Simmentals in northeast Iowa, which is a seedstock operation that consists of 500 registered Simmental and Angus cows. They have four children: Gabrielle (11), Brayden (9), Vivian (7), and Bianca (4).
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