The question is how much higher can cattle prices go before the herd expansion gets rolling? Lee Schulz, the chief economist for livestock with Ever.ag, says cattle prices aren’t done climbing.

“I think it’s twofold. One is, how much higher can we push these prices? When you look at fed cattle prices here in the second quarter of 2025, they’re up 20 percent compared to the second quarter of 2024, and we’re looking for further price appreciation in the third and fourth quarters. My forecast would have them up roughly 25 percent. That would give us about a $237 per hundredweight average on a live weight basis for the third quarter, and just under that at probably about $234 for the fourth quarter.”

What’s ahead for next year?

“It looks like overall prices could be stronger, maybe up about four percent, so this price escalation is still, I think, in front of us. Maybe not at the speed that we’ve seen so far, but realizing we’re likely to continue to push these prices higher. I’d say it’s similar for the calf and feeder cattle market, where we could see upwards of a 30 percent increase here for the next several months, as we even get into more supplies being available seasonally here.”

While prices are as high as they’ve ever been, it’s also time for producers to be vigilant about managing risk as the prices will come down again.

“I like to remind producers, you know, this is the point of maximum financial risk when we are at these contract highs and price heights. That’s the important time to look at the risk from a placement standpoint, or from where these calf prices will be for cow-calf producers, and realize that there are a lot of reasons to manage some of that downward price risk.”