A Billion-Pound Year, Read Straight

A billion pounds of anything is hard to picture. Certified Angus Beef reported 1.235 billion pounds sold globally for its 2025 fiscal year, which the brand calls its third-best year ever. If you sell cattle, the natural question is whether that means a better check for you. Here is how I would read it.

The numbers as reported

According to the brand's own account, the pounds split like this.

• Retail, 525.8 million pounds.
• Foodservice, over 417 million pounds, the second-best year on record, with a record March of 40.3 million pounds.
• International, 179 million pounds in more than 55 countries. Prime sales abroad rose 20.6 percent.
• Prime, 55 million pounds, up 9.7 percent.
• Value-added products, up 9.7 percent, the fifth year in a row of growth.
• Grass-fed, natural and ranch-to-table together, about 3.2 million pounds.

You can read the brand's write-up on certifiedangusbeef.com. Remember that these are the company's own figures.

Why it points to strong demand

Here is the part that counts. The same report says the total fed cattle supply dropped about 3 percent and average retail beef prices climbed to roughly 8 dollars a pound. When prices go up and supply goes down, you would expect sales to drop. They stayed near a record. That says buyers kept buying. And it was not just one door. Retail was the biggest piece, foodservice had a banner year, exports and Prime grew. When many doors open together, it is not a fluke.

Prime up nearly 10 percent also tells you something. When beef gets expensive, some people buy less, but many of the ones who stay buy better. That is what the numbers look like.

Where I would be careful

Sales are not demand. Sales are what moved. If more beef had been available, sales could have been bigger. If the brand ran heavy promotion, sales could be up without anybody wanting the product more. This report does not separate those.

Third-best is also not best. Certified carcasses were down from the prior year's record, so some of the cap on sales came from supply. A year of fewer carcasses holding near record sales is a sign of pull, but it also shows how much the supply sets the ceiling.

And pounds are not dollars. A higher retail price helps the packer and retailer, and some of it may reach you and some may not. The USDA Economic Research Service publishes independent data on beef prices and supply if you want to compare.

What the channel mix tells you

Look at where the pounds went. Retail took the biggest bite, at about 525.8 million pounds. That is the grocery store and it rides on the family budget. Foodservice was over 417 million pounds, and that is restaurants, which ride on traffic and menu prices. International was 179 million pounds in 55 countries or more, and that rides on exchange rates and trade deals. For all three to come in strong in the same year, no single thing explains it. That is what I like about the report.

Value-added is worth a look too. It grew a fifth year in a row, which says buyers will pay for convenience on top of the beef. When food companies make money on prepared and packaged product, some of that cushion can show up in what packers will pay for good cattle. Can, not will. It depends on how many packers are bidding in your area, and in some places that is not many.

Keep the small stuff small

Grass-fed, natural and ranch-to-table together came to about 3.2 million pounds. That is a rounding error next to the whole. It matters to the folks who supply it, and a direct-sale premium can be real, but do not read it as the direction of the entire industry. If you are thinking of switching your program, run your own numbers on cost and demand in your area first.

Think about the next year

The report itself says supply stayed tight and expects it to tighten. Tight supply tends to help sellers and hurt buyers, and the brand's own president is quoted saying the squeeze will intensify over the next year. That may support the price of cattle for a while. It also tends to bring a reaction, because high prices encourage herd rebuilding, and when herds rebuild, supply comes back. Plan on that cycle, and keep your debt sized for a normal year rather than a good one.

What a cattleman does with it

• Take it as support that qualifying cattle have a home. That does not mean any particular premium.
• Ask your buyer how much of the retail price rise is passing back to the cattle. If the answer is vague, that is information.
• Do not stretch your debt on the assumption the good year repeats. Cattle markets turn, and so does demand.
• Work on the cattle you can control. Marbling is the main reason cattle miss, and improving it makes your cattle useful to every buyer.

farm.fm's page on understanding bulls is a place to start if you want to improve genetics, and the University of Nebraska beef extension site has more on marketing and carcass quality. For suppliers and services, try the agriculture directory.

This site is independent and not affiliated with the American Angus Association or Certified Angus Beef LLC. These figures are company-reported and can be revised, so check official sources before you make a decision.