The price will never drop IMO. Packers are getting a huge lopsided majority of retail dollars spent on beef. If the scale isnt balanced via a fair and free market, beef will become scarce in some of us' lifetime. Producers are aging out and herds being sold while most cows are being harvested instead of taken back to production.
Right now youre seeing a fundamentals driven cattle market. A limited supply and big demand equals high prices. Add in inflation across the board and you've got a losing battle. Looks excellent from the outside looking in, but on paper hasn't changed much. Takes more dollars to do anything.
These expensive calves are just now starting to hit the grocery stores i think.
Hopefully this isnt just talk. Its much worse now than it was in 1921. The entire commodity world is fucked up.
Plus the Argentinian beef that President Trump wants to bring in should help to lower prices, also. We will see. You make it seem/sound unfixable. I certainly don't know but I do know the beef prices have to come down to where it is affordable. These, (all involved in enjoying the high prices) people need to come down to earth.
It is unfixable at the current heading. Need major changes to have any hope of saving the industry. They say a ranch/cattle farm shuts down every 26 minutes in this country at this point in time. Its break-even, at best, most years, for the vast majority of cow/Calf operations. Average herds in this country are 15 to 30 momma cows. . Thats hobby type level with main income coming from a 9 to 5 job. Most do it because they enjoy it, not because its profitable. Its a wild paradigm.
I presume you are also in the cattle business, which I don't know much about. A cattle ranch shutting down every 26 minutes in the country can not be good for the ranchers or Americans. I hope Trump and his administration can fix this and soon. Good luck to all cattle ranchers, keeping praying and working hard (you all probably work very hard daily) hopefully this will work out.
I hope and pray there is positive change and soon. It is a 4 year endeavor to hold a heifer back and get a marketable calf out of her. Herd size is supposedly around the same size it was in the 1950's.
Then add in how they've pushed terrible genetics and their lack of fertility, it really is concerning. Not trying to be a doom and gloomy person, just trying to paint a clear picture of the current state of affairs.
And you paint something that needs to addressed. I don't know much about it but you seem to be in the business of cattle. I hope it works out for and we can all eat steak again at a reasonable price.
Man I hope this works. I love ribeyes….five years ago usda choice ribeye was $7-8/lb. Then Covid and the joetato happened and it’s been $18 ever since.
The Meat people are buying today was raised during the Biden Administration. The huge bump in costs during the Biden Administration such as Grain, Hay, Fuel Costs, Antibiotics, It all adds up.
What most do not realize is the Beef being raised today with cheaper fuel, cheaper hay, grain, etc etc etc THAT BEEF AND PORK will not hit the market until spring.
The savings overall in overhead are not IMMEDIATELY transferred to the market. The reason the cost of Meat is so high is due to last years expenses.
If you think I'm full of shit, ask a local farmer how this works. ✌️ ✌️
I have asked the DOJ to immediately begin an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation. We will always protect our American Ranchers, and they are being blamed for what is being done by Majority Foreign Owned Meat Packers, who artificially inflate prices, and jeopardize the security of our Nation’s food supply. Action must be taken immediately to protect Consumers, combat Illegal Monopolies, and ensure these Corporations are not criminally profiting at the expense of the American People. I am asking the DOJ to act expeditiously. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
While Cattle Prices have dropped substantially, the price of Boxed Beef has gone up — Therefore, you know that something is “fishy.” We will get to the bottom of it very quickly. If there is criminality, those people responsible will pay a steep price!
As a rancher, we get between $1 and $2 per pound yet i see $5 per pound hamburger meat and steaks from $8 to $20 per oiund at the store. So when Trump said a week to 10 days ago that "we need to get RANCHERS to bring down the price of beef." My jaw dropped. I am glad to see him now realizing it ain't us ranchers hoarding massive profit. It seems there is a cartel of meat packers Tyson, JBS, Cargil, and National Beef for whom the price beef skyrockets before it hits the grocery stores. Also, grocery stores mark up items 3X what they pay for them. That sounds high when you first hear it. But the 1st 1/3 goes entirely to pay for the product. The second 1/3 goes to fixed overhead (leasing, and property costs, loans, payroll, utilities and taxes). The last 1/3 goes to variable costs and lastly profits. So maybe they have room to be more efficient? I do not know. But the meat packers keep getting bigger and bigger, they have reputation for hiring low paid foreigners to staff their operations and keep getting away with it for the most part. I do know they keep being profitable even in times we ranchers are losing money if we sell.
Good post and thanks. I live in San Antonio. I shop my meat at Costco. The beef section at Costco is minuscule compared to when beef prices were normal. People have stopped buying beef. Is this what the powers behind the "beef cartel" wants ? Is it about cow fart reduction ?
For the first time in ten years my sin in law got good prices. What he tild me was druving the prices was a severe reduction in the heed here in the U.S. obama and biden both were removing grazing lands and destroying cattle outright in some places. Where he is they joined a coop meat packing plant with a bunch of other ranchers. So they get better prices because they own the company. The only issue is the capacity of the plant.
Direct marketing freezer beef since 2018 saved this farm. Gotta be a price maker not a price taker. Been reading that sentence a lot lately. I like it. Lol
Hallelujah! By the way need a Trump emoji. As a carnivore this is exciting. We buy our beef from local ranchers. Most people don’t have the space to buy in big quantities. Our elderly dog had stopped eating the homemade food he had eaten over eight years. We started giving him burger and he won’t eat anything else. We tried to give him grocery store ground beef and he refused it. After I tasted it I understood why. I couldn’t believe how gross it was. Nobody in America should have to buy questionable food! This is as much about rancher as it is every American to have safe and quality meat. It’s been over three years since we have eaten beef from the store. When you stop eating basically everything but beef, eggs and other meat regular food tastes bad or just weird. As for me I’m finding out I’m allergic to most everything but beef, dairy and butter. This is very important for everyone especially the American ranchers. Many states or local governments of the country are trying to put ranchers out of business by using shady laws to keep them from raising not only beef but anything animal.
Hopefully this is a success and they move on to stopping chicken & hog farms raised in a building with out sunlight and fresh air.
I saw a chicken farmer recently explaining how most eggs in the grocery store are the same. Sorry I don’t have the link. He was standing in the store reading the code on back of the egg carton. Store brands had the same code as the most expensive “free range” eggs. I think he was in Texas. He found one local independent egg farmer’s egg with a right code.
You probably already know this. There isn’t a law saying the country of origin has to be on food.
This. This is what we need to see a lot more of. This affects most Americans and it's complete bullshit.
"Majority Foreign Owned Meat Packers"
Haha, probably not majority foreign owned for much longer.
MSAG
Make Steak Affordable Again!
The price will never drop IMO. Packers are getting a huge lopsided majority of retail dollars spent on beef. If the scale isnt balanced via a fair and free market, beef will become scarce in some of us' lifetime. Producers are aging out and herds being sold while most cows are being harvested instead of taken back to production.
Right now youre seeing a fundamentals driven cattle market. A limited supply and big demand equals high prices. Add in inflation across the board and you've got a losing battle. Looks excellent from the outside looking in, but on paper hasn't changed much. Takes more dollars to do anything.
These expensive calves are just now starting to hit the grocery stores i think.
Hopefully this isnt just talk. Its much worse now than it was in 1921. The entire commodity world is fucked up.
The demand from food stamps getting cut will drop.
No more parasites buying steaks means demand goes down and price must reflect that
I hope youre right. Boxed beef keeps climbing.
I used to work as management in a major grocery store chain in a Major market.
I've seen the food stamp numbers for the butcher department more times than I cared to.
If it gets cut and holds you when see entire grocery stores in urban markets get completely rebalanced.
The juice, soda, and cereal isles will be half the size soon.
This is a good thing. Its honestly sad going into a grocery store now. Poison everywhere you look.
I am in the cattle raising business and you summarized this perfectly.
Hopefully things can get turned around.
Wishing you the best.
Plus the Argentinian beef that President Trump wants to bring in should help to lower prices, also. We will see. You make it seem/sound unfixable. I certainly don't know but I do know the beef prices have to come down to where it is affordable. These, (all involved in enjoying the high prices) people need to come down to earth.
It is unfixable at the current heading. Need major changes to have any hope of saving the industry. They say a ranch/cattle farm shuts down every 26 minutes in this country at this point in time. Its break-even, at best, most years, for the vast majority of cow/Calf operations. Average herds in this country are 15 to 30 momma cows. . Thats hobby type level with main income coming from a 9 to 5 job. Most do it because they enjoy it, not because its profitable. Its a wild paradigm.
I presume you are also in the cattle business, which I don't know much about. A cattle ranch shutting down every 26 minutes in the country can not be good for the ranchers or Americans. I hope Trump and his administration can fix this and soon. Good luck to all cattle ranchers, keeping praying and working hard (you all probably work very hard daily) hopefully this will work out.
I hope and pray there is positive change and soon. It is a 4 year endeavor to hold a heifer back and get a marketable calf out of her. Herd size is supposedly around the same size it was in the 1950's.
Then add in how they've pushed terrible genetics and their lack of fertility, it really is concerning. Not trying to be a doom and gloomy person, just trying to paint a clear picture of the current state of affairs.
And you paint something that needs to addressed. I don't know much about it but you seem to be in the business of cattle. I hope it works out for and we can all eat steak again at a reasonable price.
Steaks shouldn't be $30/lb.
And if they are, cattle ranchers shouldn't be poor AF.
My aunt and uncle are cattle ranchers. They are not even close to poor. Probably millionaires
Right you are.
Meat packers are just the tip of the food price fixing iceberg.
True. But it's a good place to start.
Absolutely.
Man I hope this works. I love ribeyes….five years ago usda choice ribeye was $7-8/lb. Then Covid and the joetato happened and it’s been $18 ever since.
The Meat people are buying today was raised during the Biden Administration. The huge bump in costs during the Biden Administration such as Grain, Hay, Fuel Costs, Antibiotics, It all adds up.
What most do not realize is the Beef being raised today with cheaper fuel, cheaper hay, grain, etc etc etc THAT BEEF AND PORK will not hit the market until spring.
The savings overall in overhead are not IMMEDIATELY transferred to the market. The reason the cost of Meat is so high is due to last years expenses.
If you think I'm full of shit, ask a local farmer how this works. ✌️ ✌️
I have asked the DOJ to immediately begin an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation. We will always protect our American Ranchers, and they are being blamed for what is being done by Majority Foreign Owned Meat Packers, who artificially inflate prices, and jeopardize the security of our Nation’s food supply. Action must be taken immediately to protect Consumers, combat Illegal Monopolies, and ensure these Corporations are not criminally profiting at the expense of the American People. I am asking the DOJ to act expeditiously. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115510343852481018
While Cattle Prices have dropped substantially, the price of Boxed Beef has gone up — Therefore, you know that something is “fishy.” We will get to the bottom of it very quickly. If there is criminality, those people responsible will pay a steep price!
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115510396474764395
Oklahoma Tribes Are Fighting Corporate Consolidation of the Cattle Industry—and Building Food Sovereignty “Food is power, and having control over your food sources is the difference between independence or subjugation.” Ben Felder May 11, 2024
As a rancher, we get between $1 and $2 per pound yet i see $5 per pound hamburger meat and steaks from $8 to $20 per oiund at the store. So when Trump said a week to 10 days ago that "we need to get RANCHERS to bring down the price of beef." My jaw dropped. I am glad to see him now realizing it ain't us ranchers hoarding massive profit. It seems there is a cartel of meat packers Tyson, JBS, Cargil, and National Beef for whom the price beef skyrockets before it hits the grocery stores. Also, grocery stores mark up items 3X what they pay for them. That sounds high when you first hear it. But the 1st 1/3 goes entirely to pay for the product. The second 1/3 goes to fixed overhead (leasing, and property costs, loans, payroll, utilities and taxes). The last 1/3 goes to variable costs and lastly profits. So maybe they have room to be more efficient? I do not know. But the meat packers keep getting bigger and bigger, they have reputation for hiring low paid foreigners to staff their operations and keep getting away with it for the most part. I do know they keep being profitable even in times we ranchers are losing money if we sell.
Good post and thanks. I live in San Antonio. I shop my meat at Costco. The beef section at Costco is minuscule compared to when beef prices were normal. People have stopped buying beef. Is this what the powers behind the "beef cartel" wants ? Is it about cow fart reduction ?
Beef - the meat of millionaires.
Inching that direction for sure.
And SNAP !
Price of pork and chicken stable ...... beef has gone through the roof for a long time now...... Houston, we have a problem !
Look at productions times and reproduction rates then compare. Big problem!
Very nice start.
No foreign govt should control the price of our food.
For the first time in ten years my sin in law got good prices. What he tild me was druving the prices was a severe reduction in the heed here in the U.S. obama and biden both were removing grazing lands and destroying cattle outright in some places. Where he is they joined a coop meat packing plant with a bunch of other ranchers. So they get better prices because they own the company. The only issue is the capacity of the plant.
Direct marketing freezer beef since 2018 saved this farm. Gotta be a price maker not a price taker. Been reading that sentence a lot lately. I like it. Lol
Hallelujah! By the way need a Trump emoji. As a carnivore this is exciting. We buy our beef from local ranchers. Most people don’t have the space to buy in big quantities. Our elderly dog had stopped eating the homemade food he had eaten over eight years. We started giving him burger and he won’t eat anything else. We tried to give him grocery store ground beef and he refused it. After I tasted it I understood why. I couldn’t believe how gross it was. Nobody in America should have to buy questionable food! This is as much about rancher as it is every American to have safe and quality meat. It’s been over three years since we have eaten beef from the store. When you stop eating basically everything but beef, eggs and other meat regular food tastes bad or just weird. As for me I’m finding out I’m allergic to most everything but beef, dairy and butter. This is very important for everyone especially the American ranchers. Many states or local governments of the country are trying to put ranchers out of business by using shady laws to keep them from raising not only beef but anything animal.
Hopefully this is a success and they move on to stopping chicken & hog farms raised in a building with out sunlight and fresh air.
I saw a chicken farmer recently explaining how most eggs in the grocery store are the same. Sorry I don’t have the link. He was standing in the store reading the code on back of the egg carton. Store brands had the same code as the most expensive “free range” eggs. I think he was in Texas. He found one local independent egg farmer’s egg with a right code.
You probably already know this. There isn’t a law saying the country of origin has to be on food.
Hallelujah, Finally!! ❤️