Ranchers at the Black Hills Stock Show discuss future of the cattle industry

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - The Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo brings in everything related to South Dakota’s number one economy, agriculture and especially ranching.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, cattle production is the most important agricultural industry in the United States. However, over the years, cattle numbers have been slightly decreasing, with beef cattle going from 30 million head in 2022, to 28 million in 2023.

“The cattle market in the commercial industry has been extremely high the last two years. I don’t see that trend changing anytime soon. I think the feedlots in the southern part of the states are needing cattle, and the commercial cow number in the western part, even the Dakotas and into Wyoming, Montana, I think are at a low number. I think the beef market is going to be high for the years to come. Cow numbers I think are a little low, and therefore you’re going to need beef feeder cattle into the feed yards and stuff,” said rancher Chad Forman.

The term feeder cattle refers to cows that are often sold to be fattened, before being put on the market.

“Well, the way it is right now, we’re in a really good spot in the cattle industry I think right now. I mean, yeah the cow numbers are down, so the feeder cattle numbers are down and it’s kind of forcing the packers to give us a fair price. The trouble with that is that we’ve only got 4 packers, and they’re basically controlling the market. If we could figure out a way to maybe not have them monopolize it so much that would be a good thing because you know some of these ideas, these smaller packers, and more localized beef, kind of a good idea. Maybe we should do more of that in the future.” said rancher Matt Micheel.

The stock show runs through Saturday, February 3, with plenty of cattle shows and sales going on throughout the week.

Copyright 2024 KOTA. All rights reserved.