Live cattle futures in the United States surged on July 10, 2025 after the re-closure of the Mexico border over screwworm. Also up were the rates of choice bred Angus calves in opposition to backing down beef prices in the U.S.
Concerning Angus markets, values for choice newly born calves with grain-fed sires have reportedly inflated to $1,000 per head.
According to Stockland Australia, this market value for a calf by beef-and-dairy parents is increasing the popularity of Angus genes.
Although the meteoric rate has little to do with the live cattle import ban from Mexico, it has timing parallels.
Cattle Futures Surge on Border Closure
Indeed, live cattle values at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) climbed on July 10, 2025, to $2.25/pound.
Feeder cattle meanwhile claimed a two-month forward sales’ contract high on the 10th, at $3.2127 a pound.
The surges followed a second closure of the southern border crossing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Previously on July 7, the borderline had briefly reopened after a 2-month curb over the New World Screwworm.
Beef Retreats
With such hikes in both choice calves and cattle, it comes as a surprise that hitherto costly beef is backing down.
By July 10, wholesale boxed beef had lost some $1.79 in two days, to $384.86 per hundredweight (cwt).
Strength also weakened for “Select” wholesale beef quotes, which lowered by $2.41 to $370.86 per cwt, according to Barchart.
With an impending 50% beef import tariff on Brazil likely to begin on August 1, beef could follow live cattle in costliness. And as the following data shows, bred calves, cattle and beef pricing depends on many factors.
United States Bred Calves, Cattle and Beef Pricing Statistics
Beef, calf and cattle prices in the U.S. normally depend on the reigning supply situation, breed and demand, per the data below:
How has American live cattle pricing performed from late 2021 to mid-2025?
For slaughter cattle, demand has been high since late 2024 when supplies plummeted to 86.622 million head, the lowest since 1951. Feeder and replacement cattle producer index reached a September 2021-May 2025 apex in May 2025 at 232.165 points. This coincided with an import ban from Mexico, which supplies about 1.2 million head of cattle to the U.S. annually (2024). In retrospect, the 2021-25 period fielded its lowest pricing in October 2021 at 98.007 index points.
How much are bred calves in the United States
In Q1 2024, steer calves weighing 550 pounds cost $850 a head while heifer calves of 520 pounds garnered $755. This is according to Best Farm Animals. A just born bred Angus calf, on the other hand, can cost as much as $1,000 a head, as of early July 2025. The starting price is $700 a head for the black Angus breed for beef, according to Just Agric.
Do beef prices in the U.S. reflect similar pricing trends as cattle?
Partially paralleling cattle, all beef cuts in the United States showed an upward price curve over the three decades ending mid-2025. While ground beef averaged $1.290 a pound in January 1985, by May 2025 it had hit $5.981. This according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.