Sticker Shock

Most consumers are experiencing sticker shock as they try to find affordable cuts of meat, especially beef, to put on the family dinner table. A person would have had to have been living in a bubble not to know that we would be paying higher prices for meat this year due to the horrible drought that plagued a large portion of the nation last year. Yet, you still hear people asking “why have prices risen this much?” The answer lies in the amount of, or lack of, feed that producers have available for their cattle. Less corn and hay and pasture land due to drought damage meant less overall feed, which led many producers to liquidate their herds. In turn, less feed pushes feed prices higher and higher. Add it all up and it equals fewer cattle going to market so the price of beef goes up. USDA’s forecast for overall meat prices showed an expected increase of three to four percent over last year, not necessarily a large increase, but as any economist will tell you, when meat prices are at near to record high levels already, any change is going to be painful for consumers. Economists also tell us that it will probably be at least two years before we see any significant decrease in meat prices.