No, the beef industry is not killing elephants. However, the industry’s live slaughter weight is averaging more than 1,400 lb., which is about 10% of the size of a mature elephant. The title of this article is not meant to be distasteful, but it is meant to catch a person’s attention. As the industry works through the lowest beef cattle inventory since 1951, participants have combated the lower number of cattle by growing them larger in the feedlot. Cattle slaughter weights h

If you could pick one word to describe what is going on in the world of agriculture, it would be volatility. With a shorter news cycle, constant availability of new data and, of course, quick policy shifts, volatility has increased exponentially. We all get that the world of agriculture and commodities is cyclical, but the increased volatility is frankly more challenging to deal with on all fronts than in previous cycles. With that in mind, what are some strategies we should

It’s no secret that dairy heifers are in short supply, and their prices are high. An early 2025 USDA-estimated inventory of just 3.914 million head of dairy heifers over 500 pounds marks the lowest population of dairy heifers in the U.S. since 1978. Meanwhile, the U.S. beef cattle herd is the smallest it has been in 64 years, ramping up incentives for dairies to produce more high-value beef-cross calves. The financial upshot: today it is common for Holstein springers to fetch