Sale Barn Study | April 2025

Steady Spring Market

contributed article by Kirk Lynch

Lynch Livestock Inc. and Humeston Livestock Exchange, Humeston, Iowa

humestonlivestockexchange.com 

Spring is around the corner; most people are finishing or well into calving and field work is on the horizon. One of my favorite times of the year is the grass turns green and baby calves, cows, and grass cattle are hitting the fields.

As far as the markets are concerned, they have been steady over the past 4 to 6 weeks. The fat cattle have maybe taken a little bit of a dip but generally it seems that if we are up a $1 to $2 one week, we trade cattle $1 to $2 lower the next week.

As has been the case for the past several months, we have been seeing cattle bringing about $5 more in the auctions compared to cash bids in the country. We have been seeing tops generally in that $210 range with some extreme tops in the barns, while generally the cash country cattle have been bringing in that $200 to $205 range.

Feeder cattle continue to sell extremely well and high. There are a lot of open pens in feedlots to go with reasonably priced commodities. In addition, the shortage of overall feeder cattle numbers continues to push feeder cattle to record prices.

What has really seemed to catch fire the past few weeks is the lighter cattle that are going to be backgrounded or head to grass. They seem to be $10 to $20 higher than they were two to four weeks ago.

The weigh up cow and bull market has been steady to a little weaker on the cow side. Good high yielding bulls are bringing anywhere from $160 to $190. While good feed cows will bring close to the $150 level.

Breeding stock has been bringing excellent prices as well as we are getting closer to grass. Old aged cows bringing in the mid $2,000 range. Bred heifers and pairs in that mid $3,000 range pushing up to the $4,000 mark.

It continues to be an enjoyable time in the cattle business and seems like every month I come back that we are continuing to set record prices and hoping that is the narrative moving forward. Wishing everyone a Happy Easter and safe spring!

Kirk Lynch, Lynch Livestock Inc., Lineville, Iowa

Kirk is the beef division manager for Lynch Livestock Inc. and oversees all aspects of their backgrounding and cattle feeding operations throughout Iowa and Kansas. He is also deeply involved in the Humeston Livestock Exchange in Humeston, Iowa. In addition, Kirk and his wife Mary own and operate Heartland Simmentals in northeast Iowa, which is a seedstock operation that consists of 500 registered Simmental and Angus cows. They have four children: Gabrielle (11), Brayden (9), Vivian (7), and Bianca (4).