{"id":23256,"date":"2025-09-19T13:55:53","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T13:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?p=23256"},"modified":"2025-09-19T13:56:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T13:56:58","slug":"value-added-programs-bolster-u-s-cattle-sale-profitability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/09\/19\/value-added-programs-bolster-u-s-cattle-sale-profitability\/","title":{"rendered":"Value-added programs bolster U.S.\u2019 cattle sale profitability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At a time when prices of young cattle<\/u><\/a> weighing 750 pounds are up stateside, ranchers are maximizing profits through value-added programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stepping up the game are independent process verified providers helping farmers reap added value from their cattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such provider is IMI Global, which Minneapolis-based DTN news on September 18, 2025 featured in connection with North Carolina farmer, Jamie Dail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dail gets at least \u00a210 per pound over normal rates for every calf or steer sale on verified program video ware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He finds that Q1 2025 sales through this independently certified process has brought \u201cpremiums of around $74 a head<\/u><\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The premiums change according to buyer, trade platform, region and weight range, but mostly oscillate in safe territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Dail\u2019s last trading platform of Mid-Atlantic Sales (MACS) in NC, the yearly premiums are \u00a25 to 15 above normal rates. According to MACS\u2019 management, the top premium came roughly five years ago at \u00a225 a head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dail enrolls with IMI Global for non-hormonal and organic beef, two points that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Verified and Value-added Programs<\/strong> – are they Costly?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For a cattle farmer to maximize profits from live animal sales, they need to add value to them and register for verification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Value-addition is the particular advantage of a calf such as its being grass-fed or having birth documentation, e.t.c. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The seller backs their choice value claim through an \u201cowner-certified<\/u><\/a>\u201d affidavit, through an auditor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To verify further, the USDA inspects the herd on such points as grass-fed, age, source and non-hormonal breeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency may also appoint independent process verifier programs (PVP<\/u><\/a>s) that farmers can register with to expedite the paperwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes producers may also depend on private PVPs with no affiliation with the USDA but under legal license. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third-party verifiers charge certain registration fees: the IMI, for instance, charges  $10-12\/head for every 200 cattle lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some ranchers, however, escape with just owner affidavits in some private sales, but still reap the premiums. For example, of the 75% of cattle sales <\/u><\/a>that MACS conducts, 50% either enjoys independent verification or just owner affidavits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But do value-added programs escape when they range themselves against a reigning federal cattle market change? The statistics below attempt an answer by showing where PVPs succeed or fail like regular commodity herds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

United States Verified and Commodity Cattle Sales Statistics <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Value-added programs for cattle sales differ from commodity ones because they sell non-GMO and age-verified livestock, among other points. This way they gain price advantage because their products are what consumers want. Ranchers earn between 5 and 25 US cents<\/u><\/a> per pound over normal cattle in sales under verified programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes reigning factors crash gains and equate commodity and verified sales. For instance during COVID-19, verified program sellers could not find feed easily and so their underfed steers sold poorly. Feed is important because it is one of the verification points for grass-fed or organic certification. Between 2020 and 2025, feed costs in the U.S. rose by 2.3% annually, per the IBIS World<\/u><\/a>. Their highest spikes were in the pandemic years 2020-22, as this interpretation of IBIS World\u2019s data shows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Year<\/strong><\/td>Feed index <\/strong><\/td>Annual change<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2025<\/td>216 points<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
2024<\/td>232.8 points<\/td>-19.3%<\/td><\/tr>
2023<\/td>253.1 points<\/td>-1.9%<\/td><\/tr>
2022<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>254 points<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>30.9%<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2021<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>223.1 points<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>30.3%<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
2020<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>192.8 points<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>4.3%<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
Fig: feed price index in the United States, 2020-25. COVID years in bold.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What was the highest and lowest cattle price in the U.S in 2025?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the January-September 2025 period, live cattle in the United States cost the highest on August 22 at $240.48 per pound<\/u><\/a> (lb). They were lowest on January 1 at $191.59 per lb, according to the Trading Economics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a time when prices of young cattle weighing 750 pounds are up stateside, ranchers are maximizing profits through value-added programs. Stepping up the game are independent process verified providers helping farmers reap added value from their cattle. One such provider is IMI Global, which Minneapolis-based DTN news on September 18, 2025 featured in connection with North Carolina farmer,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19260,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nValue-added programs bolster U.S.\u2019 cattle sale profitability - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/09\/19\/value-added-programs-bolster-u-s-cattle-sale-profitability\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Value-added programs bolster U.S.\u2019 cattle sale profitability - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At a time when prices of young cattle weighing 750 pounds are up stateside, ranchers are maximizing profits through value-added programs. 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