Uptick available cattle for sale trim U.S.’ weekly prices

cattle for sale

Increasing availability of cattle for sale dipped prices in the U.S. for the week ending October 4, 2025 (week 40) by $5 per hundredweight (cwt).

According to the Watertown Daily Times on October 6, cattle prices were down from summer highs, buoyed by a weekly hike in available count.

There were 555,000 head for sale or 3,000 higher than those from the previous week, an increase that relieved 7-day rates. 

Perhaps this is why the unit values for Choice meat by packers reduced by $12.84, week-on-week. 

‘For Sale’ & Slaughter Cattle, Year-to-Date  

The weekly available herd increase was in retrospect 62,000 head less than week 40 2024’s, highlighting an historical national herd drain.

For this reason, low-supplied southern states saw their prices catch up or even exceed those of the better-supplied corn belt states.

Prices could however rally from October 6, 2025, a week when the available head count is forecast to fall to 540,000 head.

This could further reduce the slaughter count, which was at 2.29 million head between January and August 2025 or 14% down annually. 

Likewise, the January-August 2025 beef output decreased by 12% down y-o-y, to  2.02 billion pounds.

The beef cow slaughter meanwhile declined by 18.4% up to August, y-o-y, while the dairy cow equivalent dipped 6.8%.

To match demand, beef and veal imports from Australia rose to 119.357 million pounds this August from 101.715 million pounds a year back. This was per the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s September 5, 2025 report.

Overall, despite declining last week due to higher cattle for sale, lean trim beef is still premium at $4.31/pound. This way it has pushed ground beef rates to an historical high. To learn more, skim the following statistics on American cattle and beef sales on a monthly basis.

United States Monthly Cattle and Beef Sales Statistics 

In eight months, the United States produces around 4.15 billion pounds of beef, as of the January-August 2025 period. Each month, the country slaughters 2.29 million head of cattle, as of August 2025. 

The head count of live cattle for sale or slaughter adjusts accordingly depending on export and import trends. In December 1999, for example, federal live cattle exports totaled 178,008 head while imports 37,091 head. All imports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) come from Canada and Mexico. Exports on the other hand are distributed to other nations but almost all go to Mexico and Canada. By June 2025, the total monthly cattle exports were down to 21,667 head due to a decreasing herd. 

How much beef and veal does the U.S. import monthly?

In any given month, the United States imports between 403,539,000 pounds (July 2024) and 456,687,000 pounds (July 2025), per the USDA.  In terms of sources, Australia is always the highest origin at between 88,124,000 pounds (July 2024) and 131,606,000 pounds (December 2024). 

Does the U.S. export beef and veal?

Monthly beef and veal exports by the United States hit 258,757,000 pounds. The bulk shipped to the Far-East nations of South Korea, Japan and the Philippines.