Beef reaches US record as ranchers see gains

U.S. beef prices are up 74 percent since 2009 to the highest on record, after a seven-year decline in the herd left the fewest cattle in at least six decades, government data show. Supply probably will remain tight. It can take three years to expand the herd, and a prolonged drought in Texas, the top producer, parched pastures needed to raise young animals. The government says the U.S. will become a net beef importer in 2015. Cattle futures already up 23 percent in the past year in Chicago may rally 7.3 percent to $1.578 a pound by the end of December, a Bloomberg survey of five analysts showed. Read more at Bloomberg Businessweek…