Cow-calf profit per head in Washington

Washington cow-calf producers entered 2024-2025 with the strongest calf market in a decade. USDA AMS auction reports from Toppenish and Moses Lake put 500-600 lb feeder steers at $260-290/cwt through 2024, lifting gross revenue per exposed cow to roughly $1,150 assuming an 87-90% weaning rate on a 550-lb calf as modeled in WSU Extension's eastern Washington cow-calf enterprise budget.

Cash costs in Washington run higher than the USDA ERS Basin and Range regional average because winters east of the Cascades force 120-150 days of hay feeding. WSU Extension budgets charge roughly $985/cow in cash costs, dominated by harvested and purchased hay, federal grazing permit fees on Forest Service and BLM allotments, veterinary and mineral, and trucking to regional auction yards.

Net cash income therefore lands near $165 per cow, a solid positive return driven almost entirely by the calf price rally. However, once USDA ERS non-cash charges for unpaid operator labor, depreciation on bulls and equipment, and the opportunity cost of owned pasture are layered in at roughly $340 per cow, total economic profit slips to about -$175 per cow in 2024, consistent with the long-run ERS finding that cow-calf operations rarely cover full economic cost even in strong price years.