Cattle Poised for LongestRally in Five Decades on Lower Supply

Cattle futures extended a rally to an all-time high as prices are poised to cap the longest string of annual gains in five decades on signs that animal supplies are shrinking.This month, the number of cattle in American feedlots was the second-lowest on record, government data showed Dec. 20. Beef output in the U.S., the world’s biggest producer, may slump 5.7 percent next year to the lowest since 1993, the Department of Agriculture has projected.Futures are on pace for a fifth straight annual gain, the longest winning streak since Chicago trading began in 1964. Ranchers have struggled to recover from last year’s drought, the worst since the 1930s and almost half of Texas, the biggest cattle-producing state, is still in drought. The U.S. herd as of Jan. 1 was the smallest since 1952. Higher prices will raise costs for retailers from Darden Restaurants Inc., the operator of LongHorn Steakhouse chains, to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc.