Record-High Prices Rippled Through the Cattle Market in 2024

2024 was again another wild ride for the cattle complex as cattlemen have endured yet another momentous year. Words like "unprecedented" and "historic" are commonly used in various market stories, and while we as people may have a tendency to unknowingly grow dull to the words themselves and the reality in which they affect the market, the cattle market's prices are the proof in the pudding.

Whether you looked at fed cash cattle prices, feeder cattle prices or even cull cow prices, new record highs were achieved at some point in time during the last calendar year. For the fed cash cattle market, we saw prices initially peak in late June/early July when Southern live cattle traded for $190 to $191, and Northern dressed cattle prices topped at $313.

But just last week, near mid-December, the Southern Plains exceeded that threshold, as live cattle traded for $191 to $192, creating yet another new market high for the industry.

Then, to shift gears and talk about the demand in the feeder cattle complex, it's nearly unfathomable to think that except for a short time in January, the CME feeder cattle index has bounced in a narrow trading range between $240 and $262. During the last cattle cycle's peak back in 2014, the CME feeder cattle index reached $240 but was able to maintain that level for only two months -- far shorter than a whole year like the market did in 2024.