Trends and Seasonality in Cattle Auction Data from the Southeast

The Southeastern United States plays an important role in the beef cattle supply chain, featuring diverse cow-calf operators that supply an annual calf crop. Since 2010, periods of expansion and contraction have occurred, altering the number of cattle in the national herd, but within the Southeast, changes have also occurred to the number and size of operations and marketing strategy. In this research, we explore the volume and price of feeder steers, bulls, and heifers from 2010 to 2019 for auctions in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Using data from 255,651 auction transactions, we show seasonal patterns in volume and prices and suggest changes to marketing.