Beef Prices in 2026
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. It was quite a year for the beef industry in 2025.
Bob Rodenberger of Stockman’s Livestock Auction in Oklahoma says we went from a year ago trading feeder cattle at $2.60 to $2.70, and by June, we were trading them at $3.80, prices we hadn't seen.
Now, looking ahead in 2026 …
RODENBERGER … “Take out all of the riffraff, all the social media stuff, and get down to the basics, and we still have a limited supply of cattle. We're producing enough beef, within percentages of that, because we've taken a fast tier from making him weigh 13 to 14, and he's weighing 16 to 16-and-a-half, now. You know, everything they're teaching in the colleges is so far behind, because everything I pick up and read, you know, it's 62-and-a-half percent yield on a steer, anyway, at 12-and-a-half, or 1,300. Well, we went way past that. So, I think probably, in general, it’ll be another positive year.”
One thing to keep an eye on is when the USDA reopens the southern border to Mexican cattle imports, but Rodenberger says the market won’t feel that impact right away …
RODENBERGER … “You know, there's a million-something cattle that cross at that time, and even if they open it up this month, I mean, we're still a year away from seeing any of that product hit the counters at the supermarkets.”
Again, Bob Rodenberger of the Stockman’s Livestock Auction.
