The beef dollar
Of every dollar Americans spend on Choice beef, how much reaches the rancher, the packing plant, and everything after the plant. Data through October 2026.
October 2026: a retail pound of Choice beef was valued at $9.95. The five-market fed steer price was $222.45 per hundred pounds.
Each slice is a gross spread that has to pay that stage's costs: feed and land for the rancher; labor and plants for the packer; trucks, warehouses, butchers and stores after the plant. A slice is not a profit.
The beef dollar, month by month (cents)
Who gets each dollar spent on Choice beef (cents)
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- The beef dollar, 1970-2026 (CSV)
- Monthly beef dollar and steer price, 2025-2026 (CSV)
- Ground beef price, 1984-2026 (CSV)
How this is calculated
USDA's Economic Research Service models a standard Choice steer, cut a standard way. The rancher's slice is the net farm value (the animal's value minus byproducts like hides). The packing plant's slice is the farm-to-wholesale spread. The slice after the plant is the wholesale-to-retail spread. Each is divided by the retail value. Figures are not adjusted for inflation, and recent months can be revised.
General information, not financial advice.