Fattest-Ever U.S. Cattle Herd Signals End to Record Beef Prices
- Steers stuffed with cheap corn to limit losses as prices drop
- Weight gain at slaughter plants biggest in more than a decade
A cow grazes on grass at the Stemple Creek Ranch in Tomales, California.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Cattle in the U.S. are now the fattest they’ve ever been, signaling an end to the seven-year run of record beef prices just as losses begin to mount for American feedlot owners.
Tom Fanning, who manages a feedlot herd of 30,000 in Buffalo, Oklahoma, says he loses $100 to $300 on each animal he sells to slaughtering plants, even though they are bigger and produce more meat than ever. Its worse for other producers. On average, industry losses began in December and ballooned to $420 a head this month, the Livestock Marketing Information Center estimates.