Fall 2025 Cattle Feeder Enterprise Projections Now Available

Oct 15, 2025

With cattle prices at all-time highs, forward-thinking cattle feeders and backgrounders will be doing some calculations to determine what they can pay for feeder calves, and/or what they should forward contract them for. To assist with this task UW-Madison Division of Extension has assembled a set of projections using initial purchase prices for feeders calves derived from late September 2025 Wisconsin feeder calf sale reports.

These projections are intended to serve as an initial guide. They are based on regional averages; therefore, producers are strongly encouraged to use their own numbers rather than the estimated costs to evaluate their specific situation.

Download Fall 2025 Cattle Feeder Enterprise Projections examples

Projected sale prices were estimated by looking at futures contract prices and considering seasonal and cyclical trends in addition to current placements and animal breed influence on prices.

Market volatility can result in rapid changes in margins. The projections suggest there is opportunity for profit for some of the enterprises if cash prices follow what the futures market is predicting they will be. Price optimism remains strong due to tight supplies of feeder cattle coupled with continued strong demand for beef.

Source : wisc.edu

Video: What Happens When Pigs Adapt to High Soybean Meal Diets? - Gustavo Lima

In this special rerun episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Gustavo Lima, PhD candidate in Animal Science at Iowa State University, discusses how grow-finish pigs respond to high soybean meal diets. He explains the initial drop in feed intake, changes in backfat, later adaptation, energy efficiency, amino acid utilization, and the rise in nitrogen excretion at higher inclusion levels. Listen now on all major platforms!

Click here to read the full research article: https://academic.oup.com/jas/article/...

“Once they got adapted to the diet, they can handle higher levels of inclusion of soybean meal.”

Meet the guest: Gustavo Lima / gustavo-lima-a9867127 is a PhD candidate in Animal Science at Iowa State University whose work focuses on swine nutrition, ingredient characterization, energy metabolism, caloric efficiency, and applied data analysis. With more than 15 years of experience in swine production across Latin America, Gustavo also brings expertise in environmental control, performance evaluation, barn ventilation, and grow-finish housing. Learn more from Gustavo Lima on The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, available on all major platforms.