“As feeder cattle cash and futures prices soar to record levels, we have a hard time seeing an end to the secular bull market for the U.S. Ultimately, feeder cattle become live cattle so higher feeder cattle prices can cause high prices of live cattle, said Kunisch. Prices for feeder cattle, which are cattle purchased for the feedlot market, and live cattle, which have reached slaughter weight in the feedlots, marked record-high settlements on Tuesday, according to FactSet data. Cattle supplies have fallen about 5% since peaking in 2019 due to “poor pasture conditions caused by drought, elevated feed costs, and poor margins.” The drought in the Southern Plains meant that there was less grass for the cattle to feed on, said David Maloni, president of foodservice supply chain consultancy Datum FS. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service 1, 2023 dropped to its lowest since 2015, USDA data show.
