The USDA launched a new five-state cash cattle report combining negotiated trade data from Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas to restore transparency to cattle markets where negotiated cash purchases have declined from over 50% of transactions in 2005 to less than 18% in 2025.
- The new aggregated report begins with afternoon reports published Monday, Oct. 26, 2024
- Negotiated cash cattle purchases fell from more than 50% of transactions in 2005 to less than 18% in 2025
- Data comes from existing packer reports under Livestock Mandatory Reporting with no new reporting requirements
- Three of five historic cash reporting regions were previously unreported due to confidentiality rules
- Starting Nov. 2, the weekly 5-Area summary will include all eight states: Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will publish a new regional cash cattle report combining negotiated trade data from Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Tuesday.
The report starts with the afternoon reports published Monday, Oct. 26. USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service will build it from data packers already submit under Livestock Mandatory Reporting, so covered packers face no new reporting requirements, according to the department.
The problem is volume. Negotiated cash purchases made up more than 50% of fed cattle transactions in 2005 but less than 18% in 2025, as packers and feeders shifted to formula-based pricing, USDA said. Because cash prices serve as the base for many formula deals, fewer reportable cash trades have meant more weeks in which confidentiality rules prevent the agency from publishing state or regional prices.
Under a briefing posted by the Agricultural Marketing Service, three of the five historic cash reporting regions are currently unreported. The first edition of the new aggregated report is scheduled for 3 p.m. Central time Oct. 26. Beginning Nov. 2, the weekly 5-Area summary will include all eight states: Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Other daily regional, daily summary and weekly reports, including those for Iowa-Minnesota and Nebraska, remain in place.
"President Trump tasked our agency with bringing clarity and consistency to cattle markets and protecting rancher viability, and today's action is one of several steps we are taking to deliver on that promise," Rollins said. "Maintaining reliable and transparent price information is critical to a well-functioning cattle market. We are making these changes to address those challenges and make the best use possible of the market information that AMS gathers."
USDA tied the change to two executive orders from President Donald Trump, "Supporting American Ranchers" and "Promoting Fair Competition in Livestock Markets and Expanding Market Access for American Meat Producers."
For cattle feeders and the feed suppliers that serve them, the report restores a public cash price reference for the Southern Plains, one of the largest cattle feeding areas in the country. The change pools existing data rather than adding transactions, so it does not address the underlying decline in negotiated trade.
