Meat prices are driving up food costs, but demand does not appear to be subsiding.
One number not going up is production. It is estimated to go down by nearly 2 billion pounds next year. USDA’s Chief Economist says that will send prices for beef cattle up almost 9.5 percent.
“After several years of growth in meat production and consumption, we’re talking about a couple of years in a row where we’re tightening that supply now, and that will be on the back of shrinking cattle.”
Beef supply is fine in the short term, but the cost for ranchers to feed cattle is so high, that they are sending them off to feedlots sooner, posing problems for next year.
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