Cow-calf profit per head in Florida

Florida's cow-calf sector is riding the strongest calf market in a generation, with 500-lb feeder steers averaging near $3.15/lb at Florida auction barns in early 2026, pushing gross revenue per exposed cow to roughly $945 on UF/IFAS standardized budgets. That revenue figure assumes an 85% weaning rate on Brahman-influenced commercial herds, a deliberately conservative number reflecting the heat, humidity, and parasite pressure that pull Florida conception and survival rates below the USDA ERS national benchmark of 88-90%.

Cash costs in Florida average about $780 per cow, with the heaviest line items being supplemental feed and hay ($210), mineral and salt ($55), veterinary and parasite control ($85), and fuel, repairs, and custom hire tied to year-round pasture rotation. UF/IFAS budgets note that Florida producers spend nearly double the mineral supplementation of northern Plains herds because bahiagrass and bermudagrass forages are chronically low in phosphorus and copper, a structural cost the ERS regional reports flag as the single largest profitability gap versus Oklahoma and Texas.

After layering in non-cash charges of roughly $205 per cow for pasture rent-equivalent, operator labor, and capital recovery on the breeding herd, total economic profit lands near -$40 per head on the 2025 UF/IFAS budget. Net cash income of about $165 still covers out-of-pocket bills and keeps most commercial operations solvent, and the Florida Cattlemen's Association reports that roughly 15,000 beef operations remain active statewide, but the gap between cash profit and full economic profit is why consolidation continues and why operators leaning on leased pasture or off-farm income dominate the state's 880,000-head beef cow inventory.