Farms.com Home  › News

Robust Cattle Prices

Prices for cattle strengthened in 2023 and more increases could be in the future. Recent prices for 500-600 lb. feeder steers in Nebraska were around $305 per cwt. compared to $220 a year ago. And while prices for live steers are off highs of a few months ago, recent sales at $174 per cwt. are higher compared to $156/cwt. at this time last year. The USDA WASDE projects lower beef production this year, projected down over 1 billion pounds. Meanwhile, domestic demand for beef is resilient. Kansas State University’s choice beef monthly demand index for October was higher compared to January 2023—a sign consumer demand is still steady. Beef exports, though, were lower in 2023 and are projected to fall even further in 2024.

Click here to see more...

Trending Video

Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way



Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER AND GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to hit 10,000 subscribers, and when we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn. Sign up for exclusive access to tickets and details.