Consumers are paying record-high prices for beef right now, but market analysts say that information needs to be taken with context.
“The good news is, if you think about it in terms of where’s the consumer’s income today, yes, we’re inching that higher that they have to work a little bit longer to pay for that pound of beef, but we’re a little bit down from what the highs were in 2014 and 2015. Back then, they had to work 10 minutes to pay for a pound of beef. Today, they only have to work about nine minutes to pay for a pound of beef because we’ve had income growth over that time. So yes, beef prices are inching higher. We certainly have to keep that in mind, relative to the consuming public, but we’re seeing exports adjust a little bit lower because the U.S. beef consumer can afford to pay those higher prices and keep more of our U.S. beef here. And we’re also seeing relief for the producer in feeding them a little bit longer and doing some of those things to minimize some of those slaughter declines,” said Lance Zimmerman.
When looking ahead, there should be plenty of supply for consumers. A lot of processing grants were issued after the pandemic, and Zimmerman says more capacity will be added in the coming years.
