Cow numbers are down. More heifers have been put on feed the last couple years than retained for replacements. Several "disasters" and great looses of brood cows has contributed. Floods, fires, even like this record cold in Texas. Older farmers getting out and places getting split up into small "estate farms" with sales to cluless people who just want the tax write offs and no real idea of what farming really entails... so they keep a few cows and are "FARMERS and RANCHERS"......after a couple years they lease it out because they are tired of it, tired of being tied down, or tired of losing their a$$ on the animals they had. Younger generation not wanting to work as hard as the parents and wanting "more" that cannot be bought on farmer pay.......
Bred cows and cow/calf pairs here are up in price. Looking to go up more in some areas.
I told my son a couple years ago that I thought 2022 would be a high point for bred and c/cf prices. We are trending that way in this area. More dairies going out also, and they need something to do with the land that they cannot make crops on.....