Justin Waggoner, KSU Extension Beef Cattle Specialist, Garden City, KS
Currently, one of the common discussion items in the feedlot industry is cattle exit weights. Feedyard managers have to continue to market both steers and heifers at greater exit weights in recent months. Data from the October 2024, K-State Focus on Feedlots reported an average final weight 1497 lbs. for steers and 1342 lbs. for heifers. The recent increase in marketing cattle at greater exits weights has been attributed to feedlot managers retaining cattle on feed longer as a means of managing cattle inventories. This is likely accurate, but historical data from the K-State Focus on Feedlot would suggest that the trend of marketing cattle at greater exit weights has been on-going for a number of years. The figure below illustrates cattle exit/market weights from 1990-2023. Feedlot exit weights have steadily increased over the last 33 years at rate of 0.6 lbs./head/month or approximately 7.2 lbs./year. Average exit weights in 1990 were 1187 lbs. and 1041, for steers and heifers respectively. Whereas, the average exit weights in 2023 were 1425 lbs. for steers and 1292 lbs. for heifers.
