In today’s Beef Buzz, senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays speaks with Danny Jones of Superior Livestock about the strong cattle market, summer video sales, and the outlook for the beef industry as 2026 moves into its second half. Superior Livestock is the nation’s largest video livestock market- in 1987, visionary cattlemen Jim Odle and Buddy Jeffers launched Superior Livestock Auction and forever changed the way cattle are marketed.
Cattle Prices Continue to Impress
Jones said cattle producers have enjoyed a remarkable run through the first five months of the year. “The price has been tremendous, Ron,” Jones said. “We’ve been anywhere from probably four to $850 a head more than a year ago so far this year.”
While he expects the gap compared to last year to narrow somewhat as summer progresses, Jones emphasized that prices remain “significantly better than last year.”
The strongest benefits are being felt at the cow-calf level. “They are particularly the cow calf producers,” Jones said. “Whether they’re selling a calf or a yearling. If they’re home-raised right now, they’re very well into the black, as you could imagine.”
Tight Supplies Still Supporting the Market
Jones noted that cattle numbers remain somewhat smaller, although several factors have influenced recent placement data. “Overall numbers are slightly lower,” he said. “Some of the numbers that have been showing up, the on-feed numbers, I think, are skewed.”
According to Jones, drought conditions have pushed some cattle into feedyards earlier than normal, while attractive prices have encouraged additional movement as well. “Drier conditions have caused them to come a little earlier, but also the price has been attractive,” he explained.
New World Screwworm Not Expected to Halt Commerce
With New World screwworm cases identified in Texas, Jones acknowledged that producers and marketers may face additional requirements when cattle move through affected areas. “There’ll be some things to comply with,” Jones said. “But our intent is to continue to deliver what’s sold and deliver what does sell.”
He added that industry participants should expect compliance measures, particularly near known cases, but stressed that normal commerce is continuing. “There’s no commerce being stopped,” he said.
Summer Sales Season Underway
Superior Livestock’s annual Corn Belt Classic kicks off the company’s summer schedule. Jones said the sale remains unique because it focuses on bringing cattle directly to the area’s large farmer-feeder buyer base. “This particular one, Corn Belt, is really more where the buyers are rather than where the sellers are,” Jones said. “It’s a history with the farmer feeder and going to where they are.”
Current offerings are substantial, though smaller than last year. “We’ve got 75,000 right now on, and it’s a nice offering,” Jones said. “It’s off about 25,000 from last year, because so many of the cattle have sold early this year, taking advantage of the market.”
The sale will feature a mix of spring-born calves from northern states, fall-born calves from the South, and a strong selection of yearlings. “There’s a good offering of spring-born calves out of the north,” Jones said, along with “a really good selection of high-quality yearlings as well.”
Rockies Week Remains a Tradition
Following the Corn Belt Classic, attention turns to the popular Week in the Rockies sale held in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. “That’s the week of the sixth of July, always a big and popular offering,” Jones said.
He believes the sale’s success comes from buyers wanting to secure inventory well ahead of delivery dates. “Buyers want to secure their inventory ahead of time, and sellers want to take advantage of that appetite for those cattle,” he said.
The event has also become a gathering place for ranching families. “A lot of the consigners bring their families and make a family vacation,” Jones said. “People enjoy getting out of the heat for a while.”
Video Marketing Continues to Gain Acceptance
Looking back over more than a decade, Jones said video marketing has steadily gained credibility among cattle producers. “When they first heard about it, they said that would never work,” Jones said of many longtime consignors. “They tried it, and it’s been with us ever since.”
He credits the system’s continued growth to proven benefits. “The advantages of better health, and direct marketing, price discovery at the highest level,” Jones said. “All of those things are continuing to prove themselves true, and it continues to grow.”
He also highlighted the importance of Superior’s extensive value-added marketing programs. “It makes it where those program buyers can come and find their needs in one place,” Jones said. “It’s a way for program buyers and program sellers to come together with a much larger selection of cattle and a much larger buyer base.”
Fundamentals Remain Favorable
As the industry reaches the midpoint of 2026, Jones remains optimistic about cattle producers’ prospects.“Everyone expects continued good fundamentals for quite some time,” he said. “The supply and demand are really set in our favor for a while, especially again for that cow calf producer.”
While herd rebuilding remains a frequent topic of discussion, drought continues to slow progress in some regions. “We’ve seen some evidence of that, but it’s been tapered back some by the drought situation,” Jones said. “Some cattle that were intended to be bred have turned and sold as feeder heifers.”
Even with those challenges, Jones believes the industry’s underlying fundamentals remain strong as producers look ahead to the remainder of 2026.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR above for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
