Livestock Outlook: Livestock Markets Face Mixed Demand

By Jeff DeYoung

The livestock industry faced its share of challenges during 2023, and 2024 looks to have a litany of challenges as well.

Those included drought across a large chunk of the country, resulting in less grass and smaller herd sizes, says Lee Schulz, Extension livestock marketing economist with Iowa State University.

Another challenge in 2023 was mixed meat demand. Domestic beef consumption has been solid, but international numbers have decreased. On the pork side, it is the opposite as international consumption has increased as domestic consumption has weakened.

Schultz says hog slaughter numbers over the next few weeks will be large. After that, he says slaughter numbers should be fairly similar to 2023.

“We are about due for a smaller pig crop,” Schulz says. “We are farrowing fewer sows, but we are just much more efficient when it comes to pigs per litter.”

Breeding herd numbers have decreased substantially, according to recent numbers from the USDA. That trend should continue into the second half of 2024, but forecasters are calling for less pork production than what the market saw in 2023.

It cost a lot to place cattle on feed in 2023, Schulz says. That can be attributed to a handful of factors, he says, including higher feeder cattle prices and higher feed costs.

“Fed cattle prices weakened after those cattle were placed, so prices are much different than it had been estimated,” he says. “We are seeing red ink when we would typically see higher prices.”