Livestock Marketing Information Center

Livestock Monitor
Updated: 4/10/2026

GLOBAL MEAT PRODUCTION AND TRADE UPDATE FROM USDA FAS

The USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) recently released its Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade report. Global beef production is projected to be nearly 61.6 million metric tons (MT) in 2026, down 685,000 MT (-1%) from last year and the lowest in three years. Global beef exports are forecast to decline 118,000 MT (-1%) to 13.8 million MT, which is the second highest total on record behind the 13.9 million MT in 2025. The report notes that, “global trade flows are expected to undergo significant reshuffling as China, the world’s largest importer, implements a series of tariff rate quotas (TRQ) that will limit its imports, particularly from Brazil and Australia.”

RETAIL BEEF PRICE CLIMBS FROM YEAR AGO, PORK AND CHICKEN STEADY

The retail price for beef increased from a year ago in March, while the retail price for pork and chicken softened. The all-fresh retail beef price was $9.55 per pound in March, softening from $9.64 per pound in February but an increase of $1.12 per pound (+13%) from last year. Ground beef was reported at $6.86 per pound in March, up $0.73 per pound (+12%) from last year. Rounds increased $1.06 per pound (+12%) from last year to $9.61 per pound in March but fell slightly by $0.49 per pound from the prior month. Steaks were reported at $12.73 per pound in March and on par with the prior month but increased $1.75 per pound compared to the prior year.

CORN PRICES SPIKE HIGHER FOLLOWING GENERAL TREND IN COMMODITIES

Corn prices in Omaha in the last half of March reached $4.50 per bushel, the high for the crop year that began last September. The low price for Omaha corn prices this crop year was last September at $3.90 per bushel. Prices have risen steadily as export prospects have improved with the decline in the US dollar in foreign currency markets and stable trading conditions with our best grain customers such as Mexico, Japan, and South Korea. Even Western Europe is taking considerably more corn than several years ago. According to USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist (OCE), corn exports should set a record this crop year at 3.3 billion bushels, up from 2.858 billion bushels last year and 2.255 billion bushels in the 2023/24 crop year.