For the last few decades the average USA beef breed cow herd has had right around 50 cows. In 2022 the average size was 47 cows according to the USDA census of agriculture. This is not large enough to be very profitable, if at all, especially given rising costs. Beef cows have mostly been a sideline for people who love having some cows around. Price and profitability were not the driving force in this foundation segment of the US beef industry. 

But recently these folks on the small side of the beef cow/calf business have been retiring without anyone to carry on the unprofitable "hobby" resulting in pastures turning into corn and beans or houses. So now the era of "cheap calves" has come to an end, cow/calf is finally profitable and everyone is in shock. As mentioned in a thread below, cow/calf has been getting the short end of the beef profit stick for a long time. 

We are at the point, however, that if we're going to have a US beef cow herd beef cow/calf must be profitable. Industrial chicken and hog type confinement production just doesn't work well with beef cow/calf biology. 

Cow/calf has never had the fall-back govt subsidies, insurance, prevent-plant, etc that corn and beans etc have had. Cow/calf has been one of the last examples of a free market in US agriculture. Let's hope it stays a relatively government-free market. 

We need to realize that cow/calf must be profitable or we will not have beef calves. Efforts to bring down beef prices by beating the cow/calf producer back to unprofitability will mean fewer calves and higher retail prices yet. The average 50 head beef cow herd can no longer support the US beef industry by operating at a loss and on a love of cows alone.  Let the cow/calf folks turn a profit for a change.