“Right now, every calf in this market is benefiting from tight cattle supplies and strong beef demand, so it’s a good time to be selling,” Jaborek said. “But, markets are always changing, and it’s worth knowing where your calves actually sit in a shifting market as producers make important decisions for the future.”
The authors are candid about the limits of what public auction reports can tell them. The reports capture breed, sex, and grade but nothing about lot size, seller, or health status, all of which shape pricing. Coverage is also uneven, with some weeks missing entirely. Jaborek and Luke argue that better and more frequent market data would let dairy producers make sharper decisions about a breeding strategy that now touches a large share of the US dairy herd.
“The sale of young calves contributes to the profitability of many dairy farms. This article used market data to evaluate price differences between dairy calves and dairy-beef-cross calves,” commented Bill Weiss, PhD, PAS, Dipl. ACAS, editor in chief of Applied Animal Science. “This article will help dairy farmers make wiser economic decisions on whether to use beef or dairy semen if the farm is planning on selling calves for the beef market.”
The full analysis, including year-by-year price details, appears in the August 2026 issue of Applied Animal Science.
Notes for editors
“Market price differences between beef-dairy-cross calves and dairy bull calves from Kentucky and Pennsylvania auctions,” by Jaime R. Luke and Jerad R. Jaborek (https://doi.org/10.15232/aas.2026-02804), Applied Animal Science, volume 42, issue 4 (August 2026), published by FASS and Elsevier.
This article is openly available at https://doi.org/10.15232/aas.2026-02804.
To schedule an interview with the author(s), please contact Jerad Jaborek at jaborekj@msu.edu.
About Applied Animal Science
Applied Animal Science (AAS) is a gold open access, peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official publication of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS). In continuous publication since 1985, AAS is a leading outlet for animal science research. It has a Journal Impact Factor and is indexed by Scopus, Clarivate, CABI, and AGRICOLA. AAS caters to a wide and comprehensive audience, and its readers are typically university, extension, animal-industry, and government employees; members of professional societies and related organizations; producers, commodity organizations, and related feed and foods industries; researchers and students; and consultants and companies providing products and services in animal agriculture. The journal welcomes novel manuscripts on applied technology, reviews on the use or application of research-based information on animal agriculture, commentaries on contemporary issues, short communications, and technical notes. Topics that will be considered for publication include (but are not limited to) feed science, farm animal management and production, dairy science, meat science, animal nutrition, reproduction, animal physiology and behavior, disease control and prevention, microbiology, agricultural economics, and environmental issues related to agriculture. Themed special issues also will be considered for publication. www.appliedanimalscience.org
About the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS)
The American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS) is the organization that provides certification of animal scientists through examination, continuing education, and commitment to a code of ethics. Continual improvement of individual members is catalyzed through publications (including the AAS journal) and by providing information on educational opportunities. ARPAS is affiliated with five professional societies: American Dairy Science Association, American Meat Science Association, American Society of Animal Science, Equine Science Society, and Poultry Science Association. www.arpas.org
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FASS, the services division of the American Dairy Science Association, provides management services to nonprofit associations and societies with a mutual interest in supporting the advancement of animal agriculture and food systems through research and education. We support nonprofits by providing services for accounting, membership management, convention and meeting planning, information technology, and scientific publishing. The FASS publications department provides journal management, peer-review support, copyediting, composition, and proofreading; the staff includes several BELS-certified (www.bels.org) technical editors and experienced composition staff. www.fass.org
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