CattleFax is forecasting cattle prices to average steady to higher in 2026. Following the CattleFax outlook forum at CattleCon, Hensler, North Dakota, beef producer Clark Price cited the positive news for the cow-calf sector. “CattleFax is telling us herd expansions are going to be a lot slower then it was the last time,” Price told RRFN. “We may have two or three more pretty good years of calf prices.” Price remains cautious with the Mexican border likely to reopen within the next year, bringing a million more cattle into the U.S. The level of risk increases later in the year as markets anticipate larger supplies in 2027. “The margin business is getting scary because we are lofty prices and are we going higher from here; we’ve all been in the business long enough to know it doesn’t stay there forever, so there’s a lot of risk involved.” CattleFax expects all cattle prices to trade higher, with 800-pound steers averaging $335 per hundredweight and 550-pound steer calves averaging $440 per hundredweight.
