Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University
Cattle and beef markets are very complex and impacted by many factors. At any point in time some factors will be more important and receive lots of attention while others are temporarily ignored. With cattle markets dominated by cattle inventory and cyclical dynamics, the following items are not being discussed much for now.
Pork and Poultry Prices
Beef prices are record high and there is lots of discussion about whether that can be sustained. However, it seems that changes in pork and poultry prices are having relatively little impact on beef demand. Figure 1 shows that pork loin prices have been relatively weak in 2025. Ham prices have been close to year-earlier levels so far this year with bellies (bacon) strong as always.
Chicken breast meat prices have been higher year over year (Figure 2) along with chicken leg prices – perhaps getting some support from high beef prices. However, chicken wing prices dropped sharply lower year over year as soon as the Super Bowl was over.
Cold Storage
Beef in cold storage is rarely a major cattle and beef market factor but is indicative of some market trends. Numerous factors impact beef cold storage supplies but the most important is the winter build-up of lean trimmings supplies resulting from seasonally large cow slaughter in the fall. Figure 3 shows that the sharp drop in cow slaughter in the past two years has resulted in significantly lower average cold storage supplies. This contributes to the current record high ground beef prices.
Beef By-Products
Beef by-products (or drop credit) have remained relatively steady in 2024 and 2025, down from previous years. The steer by-product value has averaged $11.59/live cwt. of fed cattle in 2025. This is down from nearly $14/live cwt. in 2022. Historically, hides made up the biggest component of the many items included in by-product values. However, hide values are very low worldwide. Tallow has been a larger component of by-product values recently, driven by biodiesel demand. It is noteworthy that by-product values have not kept pace with higher fed cattle prices. Historically by-product values were nearly 10 percent of live fed cattle prices but have averaged just 5.3 percent of fed prices in 2025 and most recently are less than five percent.
