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Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Climate
- Los Angeles Times
Why burgers cost so much right now
There's no question that steak and hamburgers contribute to global warming, driven by cows' potent methane burps and their wide-ranging grazing habits. But a warming planet with intensifying extreme weather is also affecting the price of your steak and hamburgers. After years of drought, pastures haven't been producing enough grass to feed cattle. So ranchers have been sending their animals to the slaughterhouse earlier, cutting back herds even as Americans eat more beef. This is sending prices to record highs. Average ground beef prices in city supermarkets surpassed $6 a pound in June, while the cost of uncooked beef steaks approached $11.50 a pound. Those levels are the highest in a decade, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The upward march of prices illustrates a phenomenon known as climate inflation, in which droughts, heat waves, floods and wildfires raise prices for everything from home insurance to groceries. While some price hikes are so far proving temporary, others are longer-lasting, like beef, which is expected to stay expensive for at least the next few years. 'This is one indicator of how climate change will affect our food system, and it's playing itself out in beef right now,' says Ben Lilliston, director of rural strategies and climate change at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit. 'You're seeing it in other commodities, like coffee.' U.S. beef prices are spiking after years of drought in areas where cattle are raised. In the southwestern U.S. in particular, which includes cattle-producing areas like California's San Joaquin Valley, drought has exceeded historical expectations over the last quarter-century, says Brad Rippey, a USDA meteorologist. Scientists have found that global warming's higher temperatures make droughts more likely to happen in some places and more severe. For example, a 2020 study that examined anomalously dry conditions in the western U.S. and northern Mexico between 2000 and 2018 determined that climate change contributed to nearly half of that drought's severity. Drought conditions in the U.S. in recent years were also enhanced by several instances of the naturally-occurring La Niña climate pattern, which tends to leave portions of the U.S. drier than usual, Rippey says. Ranchers have some options, including feeding their herds alternatives to pasture grass, such as hay. But as dry conditions continue, selling the cattle begins to make more financial sense than buying the expensive feed. U.S. herds have been dwindling for years and are now smaller than ever even as drought conditions have improved. 'The long-term impact is that you have less ability to produce, which is where we find ourselves now after four or five years of this process,' says Derrell Peel, agribusiness professor at Oklahoma State University. Demand from consumers for beef, meanwhile, has grown, which also contributes to higher prices. That generates a trade-off between cashing in on today's high prices and holding animals back for breeding — a process that takes years to pay off. A female calf born this year could be sold, entering next year's beef supply, or it could be bred in 2026 and rear a calf ready for market by roughly 2028. Cattle usually have only one calf at a time, in contrast with other animals like chickens and pigs. Other factors affecting cattle ranching besides drought include higher interest rates and greater costs for inputs ranging from the cattle themselves to feed and equipment. Most cattle spend their lives outdoors, exposing the animals to other hallmarks of climate change like extreme heat. High temperatures can affect cattle's reproductive health and their growth, extending the time and cost of raising animals. In the highest-emissions scenario, it could get so hot by 2050 that fewer parts of the world will be suitable for cattle production, according to the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. Another climate change-related threat is also looming: a deadly parasite known as the screwworm, which was long-ago eradicated in the U.S. but has made a resurgence in Mexico. It thrives in warmer climates, and scientists say that climate change could facilitate the fly's spread. While the majority of American beef is produced domestically, the U.S. routinely imports young cattle from Mexico to fatten up in American feedlots, says David Anderson, a professor and livestock economist at Texas A&M University. The supply of those cattle, the equivalent of about 4% of U.S. calf production, has been intermittently cut off since November because of the threat the screwworm poses. 'On the margin, that's a bunch of animals,' he says. 'That's contributing to high prices.' Court writes for Bloomberg.
Economic Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Why burgers cost so much in US right now
Demand from consumers for beef, meanwhile, has grown, which also contributes to higher prices. Synopsis Climate change is driving up beef prices as droughts reduce grazing land, forcing ranchers to reduce herds. High temperatures also affect cattle's health and reproduction, further impacting supply. Increased consumer demand exacerbates the situation, leading to record-high prices for ground beef and steaks, a trend expected to continue for several years. There's no question that steak and hamburgers contribute to global warming, driven by cows' potent methane burps and their wide-ranging grazing habits. But a warming planet with intensifying extreme weather is also affecting the price of your steak and hamburgers. ADVERTISEMENT After years of drought, pastures haven't been producing enough grass to feed cattle. So ranchers have been sending their animals to the slaughterhouse earlier, cutting back herds even as Americans eat more beef. This is sending prices to record highs. Average ground beef prices in city supermarkets surpassed $6 a pound in June, while the cost of uncooked beef steaks approached $11.50 a pound. Those levels are the highest in a decade, according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The upward march of prices illustrates a phenomenon known as climate inflation, in which droughts, heat waves, floods and wildfires raise prices for everything from home insurance to groceries. While some price hikes are so far proving temporary, others are longer-lasting, like beef, which is expected to stay expensive for at least the next few years. 'This is one indicator of how climate change will affect our food system, and it's playing itself out in beef right now,' says Ben Lilliston, director of rural strategies and climate change at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit. 'You're seeing it in other commodities, like coffee.' ADVERTISEMENT Long-lasting drought US beef prices are spiking after years of drought in areas where cattle are raised. In the southwestern US in particular, which includes cattle-producing areas like California's San Joaquin Valley, drought has exceeded historical expectations over the last quarter-century, says Brad Rippey, a USDA meteorologist. Scientists have found that global warming's higher temperatures make droughts more likely to happen in some places and more severe. For example, a 2020 study that examined anomalously dry conditions in the western US and northern Mexico between 2000 and 2018 determined that climate change contributed to nearly half of that drought's severity. ADVERTISEMENT Drought conditions in the US in recent years were also enhanced by several instances of the naturally-occurring La Niña climate pattern, which tends to leave portions of the US drier than usual, Rippey says. Ranchers have some options, including feeding their herds alternatives to pasture grass, such as hay. But as dry conditions continue, selling the cattle begins to make more financial sense than buying the expensive feed. US herds have been dwindling for years, and are now smaller than ever even as drought conditions have improved. 'The long-term impact is that you have less ability to produce, which is where we find ourselves now after four or five years of this process,' says Derrell Peel, agribusiness professor at Oklahoma State University. ADVERTISEMENT Demand from consumers for beef, meanwhile, has grown, which also contributes to higher prices. That generates a trade-off between cashing in on today's high prices and holding animals back for breeding — a process that takes years to pay off. A female calf born this year could be sold, entering next year's beef supply, or it could be bred in 2026 and rear a calf ready for market by roughly 2028. Cattle usually have only one calf at a time, in contrast with other animals like chickens and pigs. Other factors affecting cattle ranching besides drought include higher interest rates and greater costs for inputs ranging from the cattle themselves to feed and equipment. More climate challenges Most cattle spend their lives outdoors, exposing the animals to other hallmarks of climate change like extreme heat. High temperatures can affect cattle's reproductive health and their growth, extending the time and cost of raising animals. In the highest-emissions scenario, it could get so hot by 2050 that fewer parts of the world will be suitable for cattle production, according to the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. ADVERTISEMENT Another climate change-related threat is also looming: a deadly parasite known as the screwworm, which was long-ago eradicated in the US but has made a resurgence in Mexico. It thrives in warmer climates, and scientists say that climate change could facilitate the fly's spread. While the majority of American beef is produced domestically, the US routinely imports young cattle from Mexico to fatten up in American feedlots, says David Anderson, a professor and livestock economist at Texas A&M University. The supply of those cattle, the equivalent of about 4% of US calf production, has been intermittently cut off since November because of the threat the screwworm poses. 'On the margin, that's a bunch of animals,' he says. 'That's contributing to high prices.' (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (Catch all the US News, UK News, Canada News, International Breaking News Events, and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily International News Updates. NEXT STORY
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Why burgers cost so much in US right now
Climate change is driving up beef prices as droughts reduce grazing land, forcing ranchers to reduce herds. High temperatures also affect cattle's health and reproduction, further impacting supply. Increased consumer demand exacerbates the situation, leading to record-high prices for ground beef and steaks, a trend expected to continue for several years. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads There's no question that steak and hamburgers contribute to global warming, driven by cows' potent methane burps and their wide-ranging grazing habits. But a warming planet with intensifying extreme weather is also affecting the price of your steak and years of drought, pastures haven't been producing enough grass to feed cattle. So ranchers have been sending their animals to the slaughterhouse earlier, cutting back herds even as Americans eat more beef. This is sending prices to record ground beef prices in city supermarkets surpassed $6 a pound in June, while the cost of uncooked beef steaks approached $11.50 a pound. Those levels are the highest in a decade, according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics upward march of prices illustrates a phenomenon known as climate inflation , in which droughts, heat waves, floods and wildfires raise prices for everything from home insurance to groceries. While some price hikes are so far proving temporary, others are longer-lasting, like beef, which is expected to stay expensive for at least the next few years.'This is one indicator of how climate change will affect our food system, and it's playing itself out in beef right now,' says Ben Lilliston, director of rural strategies and climate change at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit. 'You're seeing it in other commodities, like coffee.' US beef prices are spiking after years of drought in areas where cattle are raised. In the southwestern US in particular, which includes cattle-producing areas like California's San Joaquin Valley, drought has exceeded historical expectations over the last quarter-century, says Brad Rippey, a USDA have found that global warming's higher temperatures make droughts more likely to happen in some places and more severe. For example, a 2020 study that examined anomalously dry conditions in the western US and northern Mexico between 2000 and 2018 determined that climate change contributed to nearly half of that drought's conditions in the US in recent years were also enhanced by several instances of the naturally-occurring La Niña climate pattern, which tends to leave portions of the US drier than usual, Rippey says. Ranchers have some options, including feeding their herds alternatives to pasture grass, such as hay. But as dry conditions continue, selling the cattle begins to make more financial sense than buying the expensive feed. US herds have been dwindling for years, and are now smaller than ever even as drought conditions have improved.'The long-term impact is that you have less ability to produce, which is where we find ourselves now after four or five years of this process,' says Derrell Peel, agribusiness professor at Oklahoma State from consumers for beef, meanwhile, has grown, which also contributes to higher prices. That generates a trade-off between cashing in on today's high prices and holding animals back for breeding — a process that takes years to pay off. A female calf born this year could be sold, entering next year's beef supply, or it could be bred in 2026 and rear a calf ready for market by roughly 2028. Cattle usually have only one calf at a time, in contrast with other animals like chickens and factors affecting cattle ranching besides drought include higher interest rates and greater costs for inputs ranging from the cattle themselves to feed and cattle spend their lives outdoors, exposing the animals to other hallmarks of climate change like extreme heat. High temperatures can affect cattle's reproductive health and their growth, extending the time and cost of raising animals. In the highest-emissions scenario, it could get so hot by 2050 that fewer parts of the world will be suitable for cattle production, according to the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change climate change-related threat is also looming: a deadly parasite known as the screwworm, which was long-ago eradicated in the US but has made a resurgence in Mexico. It thrives in warmer climates, and scientists say that climate change could facilitate the fly's spread. While the majority of American beef is produced domestically, the US routinely imports young cattle from Mexico to fatten up in American feedlots, says David Anderson, a professor and livestock economist at Texas A&M supply of those cattle, the equivalent of about 4% of US calf production, has been intermittently cut off since November because of the threat the screwworm poses. 'On the margin, that's a bunch of animals,' he says. 'That's contributing to high prices.'
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Forget tariffs — Beijing is already choking off US exports on the sly
Beijing is showing the Trump administration that tariffs aren't the only weapon in a trade war. Long before President Donald Trump fired the opening shots of a new U.S.-China trade war from the White House Rose Garden last week, Beijing had been working to perfect its stealth campaign blocking key U.S. agriculture and energy exports. The Chinese government over the past four months has halted or significantly curtailed direct exports of major U.S. commodities including beef, poultry and liquified natural gas through an array of bureaucratic blocks and tricky third-party sales deals. The so-called nontariff barriers to trade are even stickier than the escalating tariffs rippling across the global economy, analysts said. All together, the moves are an escalation of the curbs China has been honing since its bans on genetically modified foods a decade ago. And they provide Beijing added firepower in the ongoing U.S.-China trade war by targeting exports from Trump-friendly, deep-red states — think Iowa and Nebraska — with restrictions immune to possible workarounds for tariff barriers. 'A tariff, you can just pay it, and things just get more costly,' said Ben Lilliston, director of rural strategies and climate change at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. 'But this is a full restriction on your ability to send product to that country.' The Chinese government knows where it can pinch U.S. exporters hardest. It has already declined to renew export licenses for hundreds of meatpacking plants, alleged that some U.S. chicken products contain unwanted drugs and stopped importing U.S. natural gas. Those industry targets also happen to be some of the president's most ardent political supporters. Such tactics underscore the dexterity of Beijing's response to rising U.S.-China trade tensions — and its years of preparation for a new trade war. What began as an additional 50 percent tariff that raised levies on Chinese imports to north of 104 percent Wednesday turned into a 145 percent tariff level a little over 12 hours later. That second increase came after Beijing upped its own tariffs on U.S. goods to a total levy of 84 percent. Beijing's counter-tariff reprisal pushed levies on U.S. imports to 125 percent Friday. The playbook is one that the Chinese government has finessed since entering the World Trade Organization in 2001. Beijing almost immediately beat back a flood of foreign imports of commodities, including soybeans, through questionable claims that they contained insect infestations or genetically modified organisms. After the Canadian government detained a senior executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in 2018, Beijing suspended a large percentage of Canadian canola oil seed imports, alleging that they contained pests. The Chinese government only lifted that import block after Ottawa allowed the executive, Meng Wanzhou, to return home. And a strategy of alleging that U.S. goods are unsanitary — which is sometimes a legitimate complaint — can be arduous to reverse. 'You don't want to see health and safety turned into political bargaining,' said Darci Vetter, who was chief agricultural negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in the Obama administration. 'It turns carefully considered barriers based on science into a political issue.' But it's a tried-and-true tactic for Beijing, according to specialists in trade regulation mechanisms. 'This is what China does — trade action masquerading as legit public policy based on science,' said Marc Busch, who has advised both USTR and the Commerce Department on technical trade barriers and is now a professor of international business diplomacy at Georgetown University. Such technical trade barriers give Beijing 'two bangs for the buck — plausible deniability and lethality,' Busch added. The U.S. itself is no stranger to using nontariff barriers to protect its agricultural commodities, said Colin Carter, an agricultural economist at the University of California, Davis. 'One of the most egregious examples, if we look in the mirror, is U.S. sugar policy,' he said, referencing the virtual ban on sugar imports, a policy that has led to much higher domestic sugar prices. But Trump's latest offensive brings a sense of déjà vu to the U.S. natural gas industry, which was also caught in the trade war crossfire during Trump's first term. China, then as now, stopped imports of natural gas as 'a calculated strategic move,' said Leslie Palti-Guzman, energy security and climate change analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 'Since the last U.S.-China trade war, China has deliberately positioned its LNG market as a geopolitical lever, preparing to weaponize it if relations with Washington soured again. That moment has arrived,' said Palti-Guzman, noting that Beijing is targeting an industry that is especially cozy with Trump. This also isn't the first time China has targeted the U.S. beef industry, a key political constituency that doesn't rely on the Chinese market as heavily as, say, the soybean sector. While the U.S. is a net importer of beef, China is a key buyer of American beef and related commodities. China's reticence to renew export licenses has stopped more than 90 percent of U.S. beef exports. National Chicken Council spokesperson Tom Super said China has relied on nontariff barriers 'for years,' calling the Chinese sanitary and phytosanitary concerns about U.S. chicken imports 'bologna.' 'The antibiotic cited by Beijing has been banned in U.S. chicken production for decades,' Super added, referencing the drug furacilin, which is banned in the U.S. but China says it found repeatedly in shipments from Mountaire Farms. China also quietly stopped importing U.S. natural gas, according to data from commodity analyst firm Kpler. The country so far this year has imported just one cargo of gas, compared to 14 cargoes during the same period of 2024, according to Kpler data. Beijing put a 10 percent tariff on imports of U.S. gas in February. It has also made it clear that bringing U.S. gas into ports was politically frowned upon given the growing trade war with the Trump White House, according to a U.S. industry official granted anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about trade flows. However, compared with agricultural goods, the hit may be more modest to LNG exporters because the industry expects to find other buyers as global gas demand remains strong. The move 'candidly, was expected' from the offset of Trump's trade war, said one LNG company executive via text who was granted anonymity to address the issue. 'But there are deals to be cut elsewhere on LNG, IMO.' A potentially bigger problem is Beijing's decision to restrict its exports of critical minerals to the United States. That move hits makers of U.S. clean energy and petrochemicals, making it more difficult to produce everything from electric vehicle car batteries to the plastic used for picnic cutlery. China is by far the largest source of such minerals, leaving the United States with little alternative for supply. The U.S. petrochemical industry, which has generally supported Trump, 'has a big target on its back' with China's critical mineral restrictions, Al Greenwood, deputy editor at commodities trade publication ICIS said in an interview. Even if the current sky-high U.S.-China trade tensions ease, don't expect Beijing to abandon nontariff barriers anytime soon. 'These nontariff measures allow China to maintain that veneer of, 'We're just following the rules — we have legitimate reasons to do these things,'' said Greta Peisch, former general counsel of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and currently a partner at Wiley Rein. 'It's part of China's narrative, and it should be of concern,' Peisch added.
Politico
12-04-2025
- Business
- Politico
Forget tariffs — Beijing is already choking off US exports on the sly
Beijing is showing the Trump administration that tariffs aren't the only weapon in a trade war. Long before President Donald Trump fired the opening shots of a new U.S.-China trade war from the White House Rose Garden last week, Beijing had been working to perfect its stealth campaign blocking key U.S. agriculture and energy exports. The Chinese government over the past four months has halted or significantly curtailed direct exports of major U.S. commodities including beef, poultry and liquified natural gas through an array of bureaucratic blocks and tricky third-party sales deals. The so-called nontariff barriers to trade are even stickier than the escalating tariffs rippling across the global economy, analysts said. All together, the moves are an escalation of the curbs China has been honing since its bans on genetically modified foods a decade ago. And they provide Beijing added firepower in the ongoing U.S.-China trade war by targeting exports from Trump-friendly, deep-red states — think Iowa and Nebraska — with restrictions immune to possible workarounds for tariff barriers. 'A tariff, you can just pay it, and things just get more costly,' said Ben Lilliston, director of rural strategies and climate change at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. 'But this is a full restriction on your ability to send product to that country.' The Chinese government knows where it can pinch U.S. exporters hardest. It has already declined to renew export licenses for hundreds of meatpacking plants , alleged that some U.S. chicken products contain unwanted drugs and stopped importing U.S. natural gas. Those industry targets also happen to be some of the president's most ardent political supporters. Such tactics underscore the dexterity of Beijing's response to rising U.S.-China trade tensions — and its years of preparation for a new trade war. What began as an additional 50 percent tariff that raised levies on Chinese imports to north of 104 percent Wednesday turned into a 145 percent tariff level a little over 12 hours later. That second increase came after Beijing upped its own tariffs on U.S. goods to a total levy of 84 percent . Beijing's counter-tariff reprisal pushed levies on U.S. imports to 125 percent Friday . The playbook is one that the Chinese government has finessed since entering the World Trade Organization in 2001. Beijing almost immediately beat back a flood of foreign imports of commodities , including soybeans, through questionable claims that they contained insect infestations or genetically modified organisms. After the Canadian government detained a senior executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in 2018, Beijing suspended a large percentage of Canadian canola oil seed imports, alleging that they contained pests. The Chinese government only lifted that import block after Ottawa allowed the executive, Meng Wanzhou, to return home. And a strategy of alleging that U.S. goods are unsanitary — which is sometimes a legitimate complaint — can be arduous to reverse. 'You don't want to see health and safety turned into political bargaining,' said Darci Vetter, who was chief agricultural negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in the Obama administration. 'It turns carefully considered barriers based on science into a political issue.' But it's a tried-and-true tactic for Beijing, according to specialists in trade regulation mechanisms. 'This is what China does — trade action masquerading as legit public policy based on science,' said Marc Busch, who has advised both USTR and the Commerce Department on technical trade barriers and is now a professor of international business diplomacy at Georgetown University. Such technical trade barriers give Beijing 'two bangs for the buck — plausible deniability and lethality,' Busch added. The U.S. itself is no stranger to using nontariff barriers to protect its agricultural commodities, said Colin Carter, an agricultural economist at the University of California, Davis. 'One of the most egregious examples, if we look in the mirror, is U.S. sugar policy,' he said, referencing the virtual ban on sugar imports, a policy that has led to much higher domestic sugar prices. But Trump's latest offensive brings a sense of déjà vu to the U.S. natural gas industry, which was also caught in the trade war crossfire during Trump's first term. China, then as now, stopped imports of natural gas as 'a calculated strategic move,' said Leslie Palti-Guzman, energy security and climate change analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 'Since the last U.S.-China trade war, China has deliberately positioned its LNG market as a geopolitical lever, preparing to weaponize it if relations with Washington soured again. That moment has arrived,' said Palti-Guzman, noting that Beijing is targeting an industry that is especially cozy with Trump. This also isn't the first time China has targeted the U.S. beef industry, a key political constituency that doesn't rely on the Chinese market as heavily as, say, the soybean sector. While the U.S. is a net importer of beef, China is a key buyer of American beef and related commodities. China's reticence to renew export licenses has stopped more than 90 percent of U.S. beef exports. National Chicken Council spokesperson Tom Super said China has relied on nontariff barriers 'for years,' calling the Chinese sanitary and phytosanitary concerns about U.S. chicken imports 'bologna.' 'The antibiotic cited by Beijing has been banned in U.S. chicken production for decades,' Super added, referencing the drug furacilin, which is banned in the U.S. but China says it found repeatedly in shipments from Mountaire Farms. China also quietly stopped importing U.S. natural gas, according to data from commodity analyst firm Kpler. The country so far this year has imported just one cargo of gas, compared to 14 cargoes during the same period of 2024, according to Kpler data. Beijing put a 10 percent tariff on imports of U.S. gas in February. It has also made it clear that bringing U.S. gas into ports was politically frowned upon given the growing trade war with the Trump White House, according to a U.S. industry official granted anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about trade flows. However, compared with agricultural goods, the hit may be more modest to LNG exporters because the industry expects to find other buyers as global gas demand remains strong. The move 'candidly, was expected' from the offset of Trump's trade war, said one LNG company executive via text who was granted anonymity to address the issue. 'But there are deals to be cut elsewhere on LNG, IMO.' A potentially bigger problem is Beijing's decision to restrict its exports of critical minerals to the United States. That move hits makers of U.S. clean energy and petrochemicals, making it more difficult to produce everything from electric vehicle car batteries to the plastic used for picnic cutlery. China is by far the largest source of such minerals, leaving the United States with little alternative for supply. The U.S. petrochemical industry, which has generally supported Trump, 'has a big target on its back' with China's critical mineral restrictions, Al Greenwood, deputy editor at commodities trade publication ICIS said in an interview. Even if the current sky-high U.S.-China trade tensions ease, don't expect Beijing to abandon nontariff barriers anytime soon. 'These nontariff measures allow China to maintain that veneer of, 'We're just following the rules — we have legitimate reasons to do these things,'' said Greta Peisch, former general counsel of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and currently a partner at Wiley Rein. 'It's part of China's narrative, and it should be of concern,' Peisch added.
