While it has been a good time to be a cattle farmer the last couple of years as prices on fat cattle and feeder cattle are as strong as they have ever been however, Thad Tharp, Illinois Beef Association Checkoff Chair, says this is a high-water mark as mother cow numbers are down:
“With what the markets are doing right now, the cash, when you look at the basis on live cash, it is just as strong as it has ever been. Mother cow numbers are down below the historic lows. We are probably back to 1920s of 1930s of the last time the U.S. beef herd has been this low on cow numbers. We are still harvesting cows for meat and not replacing them because the heifers are going in the feedlot. We haven’t seen the peak of the cattle cycle that we traditionally would have seen by now, so not only are fat cattle high and feeder cattle high, but mother cows and replacement heifers are pushing record prices to be able to buy right now too. The cattleman has been making good money the last couple years, which is needed from the three to four years ahead of that, that were not that fun. We are at a high-water mark right now and it will be interesting to see how fast it goes down, when it goes down, and what makes it go down.”
Tharp reports there are roughly 16,000 cattle farms in Illinois.
