Area livestock farmers wary of future despite strong 2025 season

Throughout most of 2025, Midwest cattle farmers have seen record highs in terms of productivity on their farms.

However, recent market developments have cast a shadow on these successes, with some farmers expressing concerns ahead of next year.

“For the first nine months of the year, the cattle business was very profitable,” said Joe Riechers, a grain and livestock farmer in Darlington, Wis. “Here lately, not so much. The cattle I’m selling right now, I’m probably close to breaking even on.”

Tim Daly, a grain and livestock farmer in Bankston, Iowa, said that while 2025 was a good year, he is worried about what the future holds for his farm.

“I’m very concerned about our market in the next 12 months,” Daly said. “If (the price of cattle) continues (to drop), you know, come February, there’s going to be a lot of losses in the cattle industry.

“I’ve been farming for over 40 years, and this is the first year that I’m really concerned,” he continued. “We’ve had ups and downs before, but what bothers me is what brought this break in the market on.”

President Donald Trump’s administration in October made a move to buy four times the amount of Argentine beef over the next four years than usual in an effort to reduce costs for consumers.

Daly said he didn’t think there was a good reason for that deal, considering he hasn’t heard a word about prices from any of his consumers.

“We American cattle farmers are very proud of our product,” Daly said. “My concern is that the quality of beef that we import does not meet the standard of what we produce here. If the consumer gets a bad taste from beef from a foreign country, it’s going to come back and hurt us.”

Daly also pointed to a downward-trending futures market for cattle, with prices dropping in recent weeks.

“A big reason why the cattle market has been down is that as a country, we’ve been very slow to build up our herd,” said David Turnis, a grain and livestock farmer in Bernard, Iowa. “It’s simply supply and demand, why prices got to where they were and why consumers kept up with beef demand.”

Several area farmers have told the Dubuque Telegraph Herald that government intervention in these markets only leads to trouble, which is what they are now experiencing.

Diversified farms better prepared

Turnis said having diverse offerings on his farm has helped him weather changes in the market.

“The grain side of agriculture, with the high inputs and low commodity prices, it’s been a couple of tough years,” Turnis said. “So being diversified and having cattle on hand has definitely helped that.”

Turnis, 29, said as a young farmer, diversity on his farm allows him to make a profit, especially given the uncertainty surrounding the markets into which he sells.

“Whether it’s an off-farm job, whether it’s owning livestock and crops, it’s good to be diversified,” he said.

Markets are always changing, farmers said. Preparation for those changes is important, especially for farmers who are just starting out.

Turnis said it’s simply part of the job and he is optimistic about the future, despite uncertainties.

“There’s just been a lot of volatility,” Turnis said. “Since I started in 2018, I’ve seen corn anywhere from $3 to $7. And then we had COVID, which was really bad for cattle. So everything runs in cycles, and I do think that times will get better.”

Cover crops, no-till farming still feasible

Despite market uncertainties, Dubuque County farmers who implement additional environmentally friendly practices said their commitment to those steps continues.

  Buy Photo

Farmers implement these practices to bolster production and improve their land for the future. Planting cover crops, which are grown as a cover for fertile soil during the off-season, can benefit farmers beyond the stewardship of their land.

“(Cover crops) are a cheap alternative feed supply for my cows,” Daly said, explaining that his cattle are fed by a combination of cover crops and regular feed before they go for harvest in June.

Daly has used cover crops for more than 20 years and covered his entire farm with them for over a decade.

He also practices no-till farming, in which seeds are planted directly into the soil on top of previous crop residue without disturbing it.

Daly said that despite his concerns about the market, he intends to continue implementing these practices.

“Cover crops and no-till are the best things for farmers in terms of the environment,” he said. “They hold our soil in place. They prevent wind and rain erosion.

“Even if the cattle market drops, that’s not going to affect my operation.”