Fed cattle prices likely have peaked

Derrell Peel, extension livestock marketing specialist at Oklahoma State University, said Monday (April 15) fed cattle prices have likely peaked on schedule in late March at nearly $129 per hundredweight.

He said the continuing impact of winter weather will help support fed prices for more time and may provide an opportunity to push to higher seasonal peaks. Peel said if that happens, it will likely occur within the next two to three weeks.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports beef production through early April is down 0.7% from a year ago, but weekly beef production in the last four weeks averaged 1.8% higher than a year ago.

Peel explained beef production usually increases beginning in March through the summer months known as the summer grilling season which typically runs to Labor Day.

He said the seasonal increase in beef production may be tempered somewhat in the coming weeks by lower carcass weights and other lingering impacts of severe weather this winter and spring. Normal seasonality of fed prices indicates that fed prices will likely drop to $120 per hundredweight for fall lows.