Cattle prices remain high on strong demand

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“They need winter feed; they need summer grass, so that really means that as we continue to have patchy rain, we’ve seen the herds starting to turn the corner, we’re not going to see those larger supplies across North America until we see improved weather conditions.”   

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Grant said unless conditions are conducive for additional feed, the expansion of the cattle herd will continue to be a slow build. The other factor supporting prices has been strong North American demand for beef.    

“In the US, they’ve actually had net supplies that are fairly stable as they’ve been supporting their domestic beef supplies with imports over the last several years. But their retail prices have been increasing, which shows that they’ve got consumers that are willing to pay to put beef on the plate, and that’s being supported by improvements in quality grading,” she said.

Grant said consumers don’t have to be as good in the kitchen to have a good eating experience, so the combination of tight supplies and strong consumer demand has been keeping prices strong.

Canadian demand is on a similar pace. Grant said there has been stronger demand with a jump back in 2020 when everyone was staying home and taught themselves how to cook.

“So, they figured out that their food dollar could go a lot further. But we also saw a jump in demand in 2025 with the Buy Canada movement, as well as other factors in terms of a protein moment happening, not just in North America, but globally, really encouraging people to make sure they’re getting adequate protein in their diets.”   

Grant said there has been a lot of volatility in the cattle markets over the last year, with various announcements. That’s expected to continue this summer, and that’s something producers need to manage.   

Grant expects cattle prices to remain strong for the rest of the year.   

“We have really strong supply and demand right now for the market, but we are seeing prices slowdown in terms of the year-over-year increases compared to what we saw in previous years,” she said. “So, looking at prices to move more sideways seasonally, so we typically have a spring peak, which is what we’ve talked about here, but then having more seasonal prices as we move through into the second half of the year.”   

Grant added it takes two to three years for the beef industry to respond to price signals with increased supply since it’s a long supply chain. For the consumer, this means prices will stay high for the foreseeable future. 

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com