Livestock economists say regional cash cattle report improves transparency

An improved regional cash cattle report could help ranchers who have faced fewer reported cattle sales in recent years, according to three livestock economists. The U.S. Department of Agriculture introduced a regional cash cattle report Oct. 26 that combines information from Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The agency said the report is intended to improve pricing transparency for cattle producers. Glynn Tonsor, a professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University, said the new report may help reduce transaction costs for some producers who previously were using a stand-alone report specific to a subset of the newly defined, wider geographic region. The report itself does not change the volume of negotiated trade, but rather how USDA provides market information under Livestock Mandatory Reporting, he said. Shrinking share The Agricultural Marketing Service’s change comes as negotiated cash transactions account for a shrinking share of cattle sales.

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