Not moooo-ving: Beef prices are going to stay high, here’s why

Cattle ranchers believe that beef prices will remain high as inflation, high energy prices and droughts are making it more expensive to raise cattle, according to Reuters.

While grain prices have fallen as Ukraine’s exports have returned to the global market, the price of feed remains higher than it was last year, according to Reuters. This, combined with a decline in the number of cattle available for slaughter, is raising the cost to slaughter cattle, leading to a 10% increase in ground beef prices compared to last year, Reuters reported.

“The prices are here to stay for a while,” Glenn Brunkow, a Kansas cattle and sheep farmer, told Reuters.

Brunkow also noted that he was paying 40% more on sheep feed, and that the prices were also impacted by the increased cost of diesel driving up the cost to bring an animal to slaughter.

“People grossly underestimate how much the price of diesel fuel affects the cost of transporting beef and growing cattle feed,” E.J. Antoni, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “All these costs are ultimately passed on to consumers in the price of the final product.” – READ MORE