Farm Progress

2017's No. 4 story: Cattle prices better than predicted

The good news is cattle prices were almost $10 per hundredweight better than predicted last January.

Alan Newport, Editor, Beef Producer

December 29, 2017

1 Min Read
One international firm predicts fed-cattle pricing will average $1.10 to $1.14 this year, on a quarterly-average basisThinkstock Photos

In the final week of 2017 we're reviewing the top five Beef Producer stories from this past year. If you missed them, here's your chance to read them.

If you read them and liked them previously, here's your chance to read them again.

The No. 4 post, by popularity was a story early in the year on Jan. 6 that predicted cattle pricing for the coming year. It was titled, " Here's another 2017 cattle pricing prediction."

Analysts for Societe Generale, a French multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Paris, at that time predicted fed cattle could range in average price from $1.10 to $1.14 per pound.

Analysts projected these quarterly average prices for fed cattle:

  • Q1 2017 -- $1.14 per pound

  • Q2 2017 -- $1.11 per pound

  • Q3 2017 -- $1.10 per pound

  • Q4 2017 -- $1.12 per pound

In retrospect, beef demand seemed to be stronger than these and others predicted and USDA data shows better prices through November. (The December report was not available when we published.)

The average cash price January through November was $121.

There were the monthly averages, rounded to the nearest dollar:

January-$117

February-$119

March-$125

April-$128

May-$136

June-$132

July-$118

August-$113

September-$108

October-$113

November-$122

The story from January 2017 is at this link.

About the Author(s)

Alan Newport

Editor, Beef Producer

Alan Newport is editor of Beef Producer, a national magazine with editorial content specifically targeted at beef production for Farm Progress’s 17 state and regional farm publications. Beef Producer appears as an insert in these magazines for readers with 50 head or more of beef cattle. Newport lives in north-central Oklahoma and travels the U.S. to meet producers and to chase down the latest and best information about the beef industry.

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