WASHINGTON – Last December, new records were set regarding retail prices for Choice beef as well as for all fresh beef, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. The Choice price set a new nominal high for the fourth month in a row, totaling out at $5.02 per lb., and an annual average $4.83 per lb. for 2011.

Last year, Farmers' share (net farm value divided by retail value) totaled 49.9 percent. ERS relays the last time it was this high was in 1994 when it reached 51 percent.

Data for this chart can be found in the ERS data product Meat Price Spreads on the ERS website, which was published Jan. 19.