Historic cattle prices centered at National Western Stock Show

A version of this story first appeared on Colorado Public Radio.

It’s called the “Super Bowl” of livestock events.

The National Western Stock Show wraps up in Denver this weekend. There are rodeos, with cows and sheep prettied up for Best in Show like a barnyard Westminster.

Livestock are sold too, a lot of them.  

This year’s stock show comes at a notable time for the cattle business. Beef prices are at record highs. In large part, that’s because the U.S. cattle population is at a 75-year low.

But one wouldn’t know that looking at Denver’s packed stock yards. 

The stock show has a lot going on. At any given point, attendees may be choosing to watch bucking broncos or trick roping, live music or petting zoos, or pristinely-primped farm animals presented to stadium crowds and judged on their every minute physical trait. 

And then, past all that, on the north end of the stock show grounds, a more fundamental piece of the livestock industry is on display. 

“We're overlooking a pen of five heifers here,” said Willie Altenburg, a stock show volunteer superintendent. He helps run cattle auctions out at the stock yards. These cows aren’t all done up for the beauty pageants inside — they are ready to sell. 

“Commercial cattlemen like to come to Denver and see the cattle that are in their working clothes, you might say,” Altenburg said.

Lots of stock shows have auctions, but few in the U.S. are on this scale. 

Rachel Schowalter attended the show with 12 young calves from her western Colorado ranch. She said she plays favorites with her livestock.

“Yeah, this one right here, she's a favorite,” Schowalter said. “She's like a pet. You can pet her.”

It’s her first time trying out the Denver auctions, and there’s huge demand for what she’s selling — breeding heifers, or future mama cows to make more cows elsewhere.

“Hopefully they'll go today to a new home this evening and get to contribute to that rancher's herd,” she said.

Prices are high. Heifers like those can each fetch $3,000, $4,000 or more. Five years ago it was closer to $2,000. So, Willie Altenburg said the yards have been totally booked for some of the auctions.

“They've actually turned cattle away,” Altenburg said. “These pens will be plump full. There's so much optimism in the industry.”

Optimism for those selling the cows, that is. For the ranchers buying those heifers, it’s more like sticker shock. 

“I'm talking on the phone yesterday to a young man and he's wanting to rebuild and buy some of these heifers to put back in,” Altenburg said. “‘What are they going to cost?’ And I said, ‘It's not cheap, is it?’”

Cattle are a commodity, and buying any commodity at its record-high price carries risk. Will these prices stay at those record highs so ranchers can recoup these investments and battle inflation across their operations?  

“Equipment, labor costs, insurance costs, all of that stuff has went up,” said Justin Sidwell, a northern Colorado rancher selling 44 calves and heifers.

“[They’re] big-bodied, sound, usable females,” Sidwell said.

He said he’s not getting rich from today’s beef prices. 

“They're finally, for the first time in many, many years, where they ought to be,” he said, “And we just hope and pray that we can keep them from falling drastically in the next few years.”

The Trump administration is increasing beef imports from Argentina in an effort to bring down prices for consumers. Many U.S. ranchers are frustrated by that. Still, industry analysts say those Argentine beef imports are pretty small in the grand scheme of things.

Schowalter said much of that foreign beef is a lot leaner than the grain-fed beef produced in the U.S. 

“Leaner meat coming in helps kind of fill the void of lean ground beef while a lot of our animals turn into high quality steaks,” Schowalter said.

So, the fatty grain-fed American steak dinner is likely to stay at a record-high price as well.