Beef prices rising as supply dwindles; local impact low for now
Amid data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing beef and veal prices were 5.5% higher in January than the same time in 2024, Joe Fasula noted the cost to customers remained stable at Gerrity's grocery stores throughout the region this winter.
'We saw a bit of a spike back in the fall and we adjusted some retail (prices) back then,' he said. 'The market has kind of been up and down since then, but nothing really drastic that would make us change prices. We've been status quo. There is really nothing we've seen in the last several months that has been a big move, one way or the other.'
However, Fasula, co-owner of Gerrity's Supermarkets, which operates 10 supermarkets throughout Lackawanna, Luzerne and Northampton counties, anticipates likely increases as the weather starts to warm up.
'Nobody has a crystal ball, but steak always goes up as we get closer to the summer holidays,' he said. 'It typically starts to increase right around Memorial Day and then Father's Day and the Fourth of July. I expect to see that happen (again).'
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture expect moderate increases in the price of beef and veal this year, compared to 2024, due to tight supplies and continued demand. The department's 2025 food price outlook predicts prices will increase 3.2% in 2025.
Prices for farm-level cattle were 20.6% higher in January 2025 than January 2024, while prices for wholesale beef were 14.8% higher, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Cattle and beef prices are elevated as a result of tight cattle supplies from a cyclical contraction of the cattle herd, as well as a temporary import ban on cattle from Mexico between November 2024 and February 2025 following detection of New World screwworm, a parasitic fly larvae, department officials said.
Fasula (FILE)
Meanwhile, Fasula doesn't see an end in sight for the rapid price increases of another grocery store staple: eggs.
'The strange thing is eggs, which used to be a very inexpensive source of protein, have come up quite a bit to the point where they're getting close to being on par with chicken,' he said.
Prices for farm-level eggs climbed 31.4% between December 2024 and January 2025, according to a Department of Agriculture report. Farm-level egg prices continued to experience large monthly changes as the ongoing bird flu outbreak continued to affect egg-layer flocks, department officials said.
In January 2025, prices for farm-level eggs were 183.7% higher than January 2024 and surpassed the previous peak prices recorded in December 2022, USDA officials said. Additionally, farm-level egg prices are predicted to increase 82.6% in 2025.
All the volatility within the industry creates continued uncertainty for pricing going forward.
'We're over $8 (a dozen) on our cost right now,' Fasula said. 'When we went over the $7 mark on our cost, we tried to hold at $6.99 and now we're trying to hold at $7.99, but we're expecting it to continue to go up. I have no idea what to expect for Easter — $10 a dozen could be a possibility.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What do tariffs on fireworks mean for July Fourth and America's 250th in 2026?
Tariffs on China, which produces the vast majority of the world's fireworks, aren't expected to noticeably affect this year's Fourth of July displays in Maryland. However, the companies behind the shows are already worried about supply — and even their own viability — as the U.S. prepares to mark its 250th birthday in 2026. Before President Donald Trump drastically increased tariffs on Chinese imports in February, Tim Jameson was looking to 2026 to be a 'once in a lifetime hit' for his Charles County firework company, promising 'the largest revenue stream we could possibly have.' But now he says that his company of five full-time employees and 60 part-timers, Innovative Pyrotechnic Concepts, will be forced to close after exhausting its inventory on semiquincentennial displays, unless tariffs on China are lifted by late summer. China manufactures about 90% of professional display fireworks and 99% of consumer fireworks used in the United States, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association. Historically, fireworks imported from China have faced duties of about 5%. As part of a broader trade war, this year President Donald Trump placed large tariffs on goods from China – going as high as 145% with combined tariff rules. While the highest tariffs are under a 90-day pause through August, the fireworks industry has remained fragile with 30% tariffs on imports from China since mid-May. Just this week, Trump announced a deal with China that would include a 55% tariff on all Chinese goods coming to the United States. 'It's the uncertainty that really makes it a challenge for small businesses,' said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association. Despite the uneasiness for the industry during its busiest time of year, tariffs did not change how much organizers are paying for large Baltimore-area public displays next month like those over Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Annapolis' Spa Creek, and Columbia's Lake Kittamaqundi. Spectators shouldn't notice anything different about the displays, organizers said. The fireworks for Baltimore City's display were ordered before the tariffs hit, said Michaela O'Gallagher, the creative services director for Image Engineering, the firework company working with the city. An Annapolis spokesperson said the city got the quote from its contractor in December. Contracts made months in advance have meant that some firework companies across the country have had to absorb costs from tariffs. This year and next year, some will likely have to do slightly shorter firework shows or use fewer shells to make their displays still happen with limited budgets, according to Heckman and Steve Houser, a former president of the National Fireworks Association and current counselor to the organization. But these changes, Heckman said, will likely be undetectable to the average viewer. Some companies, including Jameson's, have multi-year contracts with municipalities and worry about tariffs affecting their ability to deliver shows at the same budget. 'I can't just go in and raise prices,' Jameson said. 'It's going to be a dead loss if we ship this stuff.' Because of the dependence on China, the fireworks industry operates about a year in advance, starting with ordering product, according to Houser. Contracts for big Independence Day displays are signed in the fall and product ships from about mid-February to May, he said. When the heavy tariffs went into effect, many businesses told their suppliers in China not to ship, creating a backlog. Stock filled up in warehouses, leading manufacturers to stop production. As some firework businesses have started to accept having to pay the 30% tariffs to get their product in, they are also dealing with higher shipping costs as companies compete for the limited space for hazardous cargo on container ships. Jameson said he has paid for two containers' worth of fireworks that are sitting in China waiting to ship. He usually sells four to five containers worth of fireworks per year – used for displays in Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Maryland's Eastern Shore and Northern Virginia. For next year, he says he likely will only be able to sell the two currently idled containers. 'We're going to be able to take whatever shows we can get with that amount of product and call it a day,' Jameson said. 'There's just no way to recoup.' In 2026, Houser predicts a 30% to 40% increase in demand for fireworks as municipalities and individuals prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States. Big businesses and small businesses, Jameson said, won't be able to fulfill that demand. When Trump went up against China in a trade war in 2019, there was an exception for firework imports. This year's tariffs, however, were made under an emergency declaration which provided no opportunity for the industry to formally apply for exceptions. The American Pyrotechnics Association and the National Fireworks Association have jointly asked the Trump administration for a similar exemption or a reduced tariff rate. Houser, from the NFA, said the tariffs don't help the fireworks industry because the United States has never been a major manufacturer of fireworks. U.S. regulatory standards, lack of supplies and labor costs prevent the industry from pivoting to domestic manufacturing, according to a joint letter to Trump from the APA and NFA. 'There's no other place to get them from, no other countries we can run to,' Houser said. Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Rents remain far above pre-COVID levels. Use this tool to check prices in your area
Rents remain far above pre-COVID levels. Use this tool to check prices in your area Show Caption Hide Caption Father's Day: Projects you can do with your kids It's never too early to share home skills with your little ones. These simple projects make it fun for kids to learn. After seven years of work and more than $18 million invested, Harbor Village, a new affordable housing development in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, officially opened its doors in January. The 40-unit rental development came together thanks to Safe Harbour, a housing nonprofit based in Carlisle. By the time Safe Harbour started screening prospective tenants, there were over 400 applications, said Scott Shewell, the group's long-time president and CEO. 'And I still get calls every day,' he told USA TODAY. The median apartment rent in Carlisle was $1,259 in May. It was one of the fastest-growing areas for rent prices that month, up 6% from a year ago, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Apartment List data. Shewell wasn't surprised. The area, he said, has seen blockbuster growth over the past several years and even well-meaning local governments committed to affordable housing haven't been able to keep up with the demand. Population in Carlisle borough has gone up nearly 12% since 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In May, Manhattan, Kansas, led other metros as the fastest-growing market in rental prices. The metro saw a 14% increase in rent prices from the same month last year. It was followed by Abilene, Texas; Grand Forks, North Dakota-Minnesota and Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana. Recent data shows that the rental prices in most metro areas have leveled off, but for millions of renters, the typical rent still remains dramatically higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic began. The USA TODAY analysis of Apartment List data for 202 metro areas found that average monthly rent between January and May was significantly higher in 94% of the metros, compared with the same period in 2019. Excluding the handful that stayed about the same as pre-pandemic levels, the data showed that prices were up by an average of 31%. The pandemic supercharged the rental market, breaking old patterns of steady growth as the population shuffled, cities closed, and people started working from home. After a short drop in rental prices, prices rebounded aggressively, hitting record highs before flattening in the latter half of 2022. The impact has been felt across the board, from Manhattan in New York City to Manhattan in Kansas. The Apartment List data shows that the new level remained steady in May 2025, which, although a relief, does not do away with the rent burden the already high prices have put on families. According to census data, about 25% of renters in America are so rent-burdened that they spent more than half of their income on rent in 2023. That figure was 22% in 2019. A three-percentage point difference means millions more Americans are spending a substantial chunk of their paycheck in rent. When these high prices were accompanied by broader inflation in groceries, gas and energy, the strain was felt by families – charting up as a top issue in the 2024 presidential election, in which Americans elected President Donald Trump who centered his campaign on bringing down prices. Housing market experts say that the rental market might have settled on a new baseline, which means prices might not go back down to what they were in 2019. Read more: Work from home is reshaping the housing market 5 years after COVID Rob Warnock, a senior research associate at Apartment List, said a reversal to pre-pandemic prices is unlikely, as we're now at a level for how much housing costs. 'More realistic than rent prices coming down is rent prices stabilizing at a place where incomes can catch up,' Warnock said. For now, two trends in the market have emerged to keep the rental prices at a stable level: slowed rental demand and a recent construction frenzy. 'The past year has been really defined by a lot of new housing construction that was built over the previous three years, coupled with fairly low demand in the rental market,' Warnock said. 'As a result, what we see is that prices are largely flat, if not down.' A race to build There are only a handful of metros where rent prices have decreased over the past year. Notable among them is Bozeman, Montana, where people flocked during the pandemic for lower costs and outdoor spaces while working remotely. '(It) expedited everyone's decision-making to move to a town like Bozeman. There's a lot of fantasy around it,' said Casey Rose, an adviser at Sterling Commercial Real Estate Advisors. Amid the increased demand in the Montana mountain metro, developers started to build apartments. Many of the projects were delivered at the same time, which resulted in very low vacancy rates, Rose said. Compared with last year, rents in Bozeman are down roughly 10%, the second largest decline, according to the Apartment List data. But the actual prices, Rose said, can be masked by incentives like offering two months of free rent, or even a free iPad, TV, or ski pass. A similar pattern has played out in Austin, where rental prices are down 6.4% compared with a year ago. Stacey Auzanne, a property manager and a third-generation Austin resident, watched pandemic digital nomads flood into the city, while builders kept erecting new developments, creating a supply glut that kept rental prices suppressed. Auzanne, who manages dozens of properties, said the landlords she works with are holding rents steady, with one even dropping the price $50 a month. It's worth it to keep good tenants in place, she said – particularly in a market where there's more supply than demand. 'The market just kept accelerating and the bubble burst,' Auzanne said. 'This year, we're really feeling it.' Experts raised concerns that prices could go up because of the changing political landscape that has seen a stringent tariff policy and crackdown on immigrants who form a large part of the construction workforce. While housing inflation has dropped from its peak of over 8% in early 2023, costs have not fallen as quickly as overall inflation. According to consumer price index data released by the Labor Department on Wednesday, rent inflation was at 3.8% in May, the smallest annual increase since January 2022. This slowdown reflects lower rents for new leases finally filtering into rates for existing tenants. While the overall rise in consumer prices was modest in May, housing costs remained the largest contributor to inflation, accounting for 35% of all price increases. More: CPI report reveals inflation crept higher in May as tariff impact was tamer than expected
Fast Company
an hour ago
- Fast Company
Inside Walmart's ambitious plan to make your clothes in America again
On a crisp day in May, Josh Blackman, a third generation cotton farmer, is sitting atop his 14-foot tall John Deere planter on his family farm in Littleton, North Carolina. The planter is an engineering marvel. Its 10 arms create neat rows in the soil, then drop cotton seeds at the right depth, allowing one man to do the work of 50 laborers. By October, this field will be blanketed with fluffy white bolls of cotton that never fail to take the 34-year-old Blackman's breath away. 'Cotton is so pretty at harvest time,' he tells me. Blackman's grandparents established Warren Farms in 1941. Until the 1960s, roughly 95% of the clothes Americans wore were made domestically, so cotton from Warren Farms would travel by truck to nearby mills and factories to become Fruit of the Loom T-shirts and Levi's jeans. But over the past five decades, the U.S. apparel industry has been decimated. Today, 97% of the clothes that Americans buy is imported, largely from China, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. The majority of Blackman's crop will be shipped to Asia where it will be turned into fabric, then cut and sewn into garments at low-wage factories. Blackman often feels he is at the mercy of geopolitical forces. He's competing with farmers in developing countries who produce more cheaply because they pay lower wages and have weaker environmental protections. China, the world's biggest cotton importer, has an outsized influence on the commodity's price. This year, Blackman expects to lose money on his harvest because the price of cotton is less than 70 cents a pound, down about 10 cents from 2024, which was already considered a bad year. 'The weather determines the crop, and the market determines what we get for it,' he says. But Blackman believes that if apparel manufacturing returned to the United States, there would be more demand for domestic cotton, allowing him to earn more. 'Bringing the factories to America—opening them back up—will create a market for my cotton right here,' he says. For years, the idea of breathing life back into American clothing factories, reversing half a century of off-shoring, seemed like a pipe dream. But the plate tectonics of the apparel industry are shifting. Over the past decade, dozens of American-made labels like Buck Mason, American Trench, Imogene & Willie, and Duckworth have sprung up, tapping into the skeletal remains of the domestic supply chain. This was a small-scale effort: These high-end brands make clothes for affluent customers who care about sustainability, ethical labor, and durability. But everything changed last summer, when Walmart—the largest company in the world—entered the picture. The retailer dropped a $12.98 T-shirt made end-to-end in the U.S. just in time for the Fourth of July. Subscribe to the Design latest innovations in design brought to you every weekday SIGN UP Privacy Policy | Fast Company Newsletters advertisement The final deadline for Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech Awards is Friday, June 20, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
