The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is updating its cash cattle market reports to improve price transparency and provide more reliable market information for cattle producers.

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will publish a new regional cash cattle report that combines negotiated trade data from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico.

The additional report will use information already collected through the Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR) system. No additional reporting will be required from covered meatpackers.

The changes are part of USDA’s efforts to implement President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at supporting American ranchers and promoting fair competition in livestock markets.

“Maintaining reliable and transparent price information is critical to a well-functioning cattle market,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said. “We are making these changes to address those challenges and make the best use possible of the market information that AMS gathers.”

The update follows a significant decline in negotiated cash cattle transactions over the past two decades.

According to USDA, cash purchases accounted for more than 50% of cattle transactions in 2005 but declined to less than 18% in 2025.

During that time, cattle purchasing practices increasingly shifted toward formula-based pricing arrangements.

Under those arrangements, cattle prices are determined using established formulas that often reference negotiated cash market prices. As fewer cattle are sold through negotiated cash transactions, less pricing information is available to establish those benchmarks.

USDA noted the decline has also created confidentiality challenges that can prevent certain prices from being published when too few transactions are reported.

Combining data from five states is intended to increase the amount of information available and provide a broader picture of negotiated cash cattle prices across the region.

The new report will supplement existing market reports and provide cattle producers, livestock sellers and other market participants with additional information to evaluate market conditions and make marketing decisions.

USDA said the changes support its broader efforts to strengthen cattle market transparency and improve access to pricing information.

The updated reports will be available through USDA Market News and the USDA Market News mobile app.