The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering an early look at the cattle market outlook for next year. In this report, Mark Jekanowski, chair of the World Agricultural Outlook Board, discusses USDA’s latest forecast for 2027 beef production and steer prices.
“For 2027, we have a reduction of about 150 million pounds this month for beef production, reflecting our expectations of lower slaughter weights and lower placements in 2026. Just for a little bit of perspective, the August cattle on feed report showed the lowest July placements on record. Lower placements this year is going to tend to mean lower beef produced next year. That’s reflected in this month’s adjustments,” Jekanowski reports.
“So 2027 beef production, now forecast at just over 24.8 billion pounds, and it would be down just slightly, about 40 million pounds from 2026. So it is nearly equivalent to 2026 levels. For 2027, we lowered our steer price forecast by $11.75 per hundredweight, down to $237.50 per hundredweight,” added Jekanowski.
Audio Reporting by Elizabeth Sanders for Southeast AgNet.