Current slaughter cow prices driven by lean beef trimmings

Slaughter cow prices are driven by the price of 90% lean beef trimmings (90s), which posted a price of $317.36 per hundredweight the first week of March. This is a record high price for 90s in data back to 1978 and undoubtedly an all-time record weekly price.

Dairy cow slaughter is down 15%, and beef cow slaughter is down 11.4% year over year, according to a recent report from Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University ag economist. Peel is the first a presenter at the I-29 Moo University Dairy Beef Short Course March 21 during the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls.

“On Jan. 1, 2024, the dairy herd was 0.4% lower than the previous year,” according to Fred Hall, dairy specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. “Furthermore, dairy heifer replacements were also 0.4 lower and the number of heifers expected to calve in 2024 was down more than 1%. The dairy cow herd has been trending lower since reaching a peak in 2021, as feed prices have risen and squeezed margins for milk producers.”