Beef prices have soared in the US

Omaha, Neb. – Anyone who pulls the grill this summer already knows the Galettes and the Hamburger steaks is expensive, but the latest figures show that prices have climbed to record summits.

And experts say that consumers should not expect a lot of relief either.

The average price of a chopped beef book increased to $ 6.12 in June, up almost 12% compared to a year ago, according to US government data. The average price of all non -cooked beef steaks increased by $ 11.49 per book.

But it is not a recent phenomenon. Beef prices increase regularly over the past 20 years because the supply of cattle remains tight while beef remains popular.

In fact, the herd of American cattle has been shrinking regularly for decades. On January 1, the United States had 86.7 million cattle and calves, down 8% compared to the most recent summit in 2019. It is the lowest number of cattle since 1951, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Many factors, including drought and cattle prices, have contributed to this drop. And now, the emergence of an annoying parasite in Mexico and the prospect of generalized rates can further reduce supply and increase prices.

Here is an overview of what increases the price of beef.

The American beef industry has improved in the breeding of larger animals, so that breeders can provide the same amount of beef with fewer cattle, said David Anderson, cattle economist in Texas A&M.

Then in 2020, a three -year drought started which dried pastures and increased the cost of food for livestock, according to the American Farm Bureau. Drought has continued to be a problem in the West since then, and the food price has exerted more pressure on breeders who already operate on thin beneficiaries.

In response, many farmers have massacred more female cattle than usual, which helped the short -term beef supplies but lowered the size of future herds. The drop in cattle supply has increased prices.

In recent years, cattle prices have soared, so animals are now selling thousands of dollars each. Recent prices show that cattle sold more than $ 230 per hundred weighting, or a hundred pounds.

These higher prices allow breeders to encourage more to sell cows now to capture profits instead of clinging to them for breeding since prices in the coming years can decrease, Anderson said.

“For them, the balance is:” Do I sell this animal now and take this record assessment? ” Or “Do I keep her to realize that her feedback on her productive life when she has calves?” “Said Anderson.” And it is this balancing act and so far, the side that has won is to sell it and make the check. “

The emergence of an eater of flesh eater in the cattle herds in Mexico has exerted additional pressure on the supply because the managers cut all the imports of cattle in the south of the border last year. Some 4% of cattle that the United States feeds for the slaughter of the beef come from Mexico.

The pest is the new fly fly fly and the female flies lay eggs in injuries on animals with hot blood. The blown larvae are unusual among flies to feed on living flesh and fluids instead of dead materials. US officials fear that if the fly reaches Texas, its eaten-eaten magnets can cause great economic losses as decades before the United States drove the pest.

Agricultural economist Bernt Nelson, with the Farm Bureau, said that the loss of this cattle exerts additional pressure on the offer that contributes to increasing prices.

President Donald Trump’s prices have not yet had a major impact on beef prices, but they could be another factor that increases prices because the United States imports more than 4 million pounds of beef each year.

A large part of what is imported, they are lean beef toppings that meat wages mix with more serious beef produced in the United States to produce the varieties of chopped beef that domestic consumers want. A large part of this lean beef comes from Australia and New Zealand which only experienced only 10%, but part of Brazil where Trump threatened with rates as high as 50%.

If prices remain in place in the long term, meat processors will have to pay higher prices on imported lean beef. It would not be easy for American producers to replace because the country’s system is intended to produce more fatty beef known for marbled steaks.

It is the summit of the grilled and demand season in the United States for the beef remains solid, which, according to Glynn Tonsor, the agricultural economist of the state of Kansas will help to maintain higher prices.

If the prices are also high, buyers will probably start to buy more hamburger meat and less steaks, but that does not seem to happen widely – and people do not seem to buy chicken or pork instead of beef.

Nelson only said recently, drought has relaxed – allowing pasture conditions to improve – and that cereals are down thanks to the drop in demand for corn export due to prices. These factors, combined at the high prices of cattle could persuade more ranchs to keep their cows and raise them to extend the size of their herds.

Even if the breeders decided to raise more cattle to help replace these imports, it would take at least two years to reproduce and raise them. And it would not be clear if this happens before later this fall, when breeders generally make these decisions.

“We still have a lot of barriers about how to develop this herd,” said Nelson. Consider simply that a young farmer who wants to add 25 heifers raised to his herd must be ready to spend more than $ 100,000 at auction at a time when borrowing costs remain high.

There is generally a seasonal drop in beef prices because the grilled season slows down in the fall, but these price reductions are probably modest.

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The author of the Associated Press Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this Detroit report.