Latest news with #beefprices
CTV News
16 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘A luxury item': Canadians may need to budget for barbecue season as meat prices soar
Since the beginning of the year, beef prices in Canada have surged by more than 30 per cent. As summer approaches, Canadians will be wanting to fire up the barbecue, but the reality of rising meat prices might mean fewer backyard cookouts this year. The 'shockingly high prices' are a case study in supply-side economics and market dysfunction, said Sylvain Charlebois, the director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, in a news release. 'In Canada, beef is no longer just food—it's a financial decision,' Charlebois said. 'What was once a staple of the summer grill is now a luxury item, priced out of reach for many families.' Statistics Canada said meat prices have risen by the following amounts since January: striploin is up 34.2 per cent top sirloin 33.7 per cent rib cuts nearly 12 per cent pork rib cuts and chicken breasts have each risen 5.9 per cent The 6.8 per cent increase in the price of meatless burger patties suggests the trend extends into other grocery aisles. Charlebois said there are several factors causing the surge. Canada's beef cow inventory decreased by 1.2 per cent from last year to 3.38 million head – the lowest number since 1989. This signals more than just a cyclical decline, Charlebois said. Cattle producers are leaving the industry while prices are good and investing in less volatile sectors or changing to crop production. 'In short, the Canadian beef industry is retreating and becoming increasingly risk-averse,' said the release. The U.S. is experiencing a similar but less severe trend. Their beef herd declined by 0.5 per cent to 27.9 million head and their prices rose but not like in Canada. Boneless sirloin rose 5.7 per cent in the U.S. compared to 22 per cent in Canada. Ground beef rose by 10.8 per cent in the U.S. compared with 23 per cent. Canada's expansive geography, transportation costs, limited number of federally licensed producers, carbon pricing and higher labour costs all contribute to the problem, but Charlebois said we cannot rule out industry collusion. The Canadian Competition Bureau has been less active in quelling anti-competitive behaviour than the U.S., where a 2022 investigation led to several large payouts from major meat packers. Beef consumption fell by 7.1 per cent per capita in 2023 and 2.1 per cent in 2024 in Canada. Charlebois said this is a 'structural shift in consumer behaviour.' 'Beef is increasingly seen as a luxury item, with ground beef becoming the primary choice for budget-conscious households still committed to red meat,' he said. Charlebois said the trend is unfortunate since beef is one of the most natural and sustainable sources of protein that's available to Canadians. 'Canadian ranchers and processors have made significant strides in improving environmental stewardship and animal welfare, often without fanfare,' he said. 'As a whole, beef delivers exceptional nutritional value, supports rural economies, and offers a level of traceability and food safety few protein alternatives can match.'
CTV News
4 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
How flesh-eating screwworms in cattle could raise U.S. beef prices
CHICAGO -- New World Screwworm, a devastating parasite that eats cattle and other wild animals alive, is traveling north from Central America to Mexico and has crept past biological barriers that kept the pest contained for decades, experts said. Washington halted cattle imports from Mexico in May, citing the insect's spread further into Mexico, about 700 miles from the Texas border. With the U.S. cattle herd already at a multi-decade low, the closure could further elevaterecord-high beef prices by keeping more calves out of the U.S. cattle supply. What is New World Screwworm? Screwworms are parasitic flies whose females lay eggs in wounds on any warm-blooded animal. Livestock and wild animals are usually the victims. Once the eggs hatch, hundreds of screwworm larvae use their sharp mouths to burrow through living flesh -- feeding, enlarging the wound and eventually killing their host if left untreated. When screwworms infect a cow, a tiny scrape, a recent brand or a healing ear tag can quickly become a gaping wound, carpeted with wriggling maggots that put the entire herd at risk of infestation. Screwworms were eradicated from the U.S. in the 1960s when researchers began releasing massive numbers of sterilized male screwworm flies who mate with wild female screwworms to produce infertile eggs. Why does this matter to U.S. consumers? The U.S. typically imports over a million cattle from Mexico every year. The import suspension will likely contribute to rising beef prices by tightening the supply of beef cattle, which dwindled after drought forced ranchers to slash herds. U.S. beef prices likely also got a boost from a separate import suspension from Mexico over screwworms that lasted from November to February, experts said, and upward pressure on prices should persist through summer grilling season. Mexican cattle are usually fed and fattened on U.S. farms for five to six months before slaughter, and a diminished slaughter rate can elevate beef prices. Though the fly is hundreds of miles away from the border, any outbreak in the U.S. would further tighten the cattle supply and put other livestock and household pets at risk. Screwworms will even feed on humans if they can, said Dr. Timothy Goldsmith, a veterinary medicine professor at the University of Minnesota. Homeless people would be especially vulnerable to infestation because they sleep outside and have less access to hygiene products and medical care, Goldsmith said. What is being done to control the outbreak? A factory designed to breed and sterilize screwworms in Panama is releasing 100 million sterile flies every week, but experts say more factories need to come online quickly to choke off the fly's spread north. Screwworms cannot fly more than 12 miles on their own, but they can cover large distances while burrowed inside their hosts, said Sonja Swiger, entomologist at Texas A&M University. The flies have already passed through the narrowest stretches of land in Panama and Mexico, meaning exponentially more sterile flies need to be released to control the outbreak. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would invest US$21 million to convert a fruit fly factory in Mexico to produce sterile screwworms. The agency said the border will likely re-open to cattle imports by the end of the year. How could this impact American cattle ranchers? The USDA estimated a screwworm outbreak would cost the Texas economy $1.8 billion in livestock deaths, labor costs and medication expenses. After decades of eradication, most cattle ranchers no longer have the experience or tools to diagnose and treat screwworm. Infestations can be cured, but treatment involves removing hundreds of larvae and thoroughly disinfecting wounds, a time-consuming, pricey and labor-intensive process. 'This is a pest we don't want back. This is a bad thing,' said David Anderson, livestock economist at Texas A&M University. 'I can't imagine having to deal with that. It's gross.' (Reporting by Heather Schlitz. Editing by Emily Schmall and David Gregorio)
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Steak drives food inflation to highest level in a year
Food inflation in the UK has increased for the fourth month in a row largely driven by the increasing costs of fresh produce and beef, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).The annual rate of food price rises hit 2.8% in May, after April saw a 2.6% Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said retailers were passing on the costs of higher minimum wages and increased employer National Insurance Allen, of the British Meat Processors Association, told the BBC the price of beef has risen to "record levels" due to stable demand and lower supply. He said competition between supermarkets had previously been keeping the price of beef down, so it was only a matter of time until customers were hit by cost increases.
Reuters
23-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Record beef prices raise Memorial Day cookout costs
CHICAGO, May 23 (Reuters) - Beef prices set records last month at U.S. grocery stores, and economists expect they will climb further as demand increases during the summer grilling season that traditionally begins with cookouts on Memorial Day on Monday. Higher prices hit consumers who are increasingly nervous about the economic impact of President Donald Trump's trade policy and after Washington halted cattle imports from Mexico over a pest called New World screwworm, which could hike up beef prices further by tightening the cattle supply. One consumer feeling the pinch is DeAndrea Chavis, an artificial intelligence analyst in Raleigh, North Carolina, who buys ground beef nearly every week to prep tacos and other dishes for lunch but lately is making smaller portions because of rising prices. Chavis said she has seen lean ground beef prices climb above $9 per pound from $6 to $8 in recent months. She is planning to keep hamburgers on the menu for a cookout next week but may have more hot dogs in the mix to control costs. "Ground beef is supposed to be a cheaper option," said Chavis, 28. "Now that is even starting to add up." Ground chuck prices in April reached a record $6 per pound, up 14% from a year ago, after farmers slashed their cattle herds to a 74-year low due to a years-long drought that reduced grazing lands. However, demand for beef is expected to reach a 39-year high as consumers stomach higher prices, Rabobank senior analyst Lance Zimmerman said. A Memorial Day cookout for 10 people eating a mix of foods, including one cheeseburger and chicken sandwich apiece, will cost an estimated $103, up 4.2% from last year, according to Rabobank. Hamburger meat prices jumped 6.4%, the bank said. Some consumers are buying cheaper cuts of beef, such as a top sirloin, to save money without switching to lower-cost chicken or pork, said Ian Anderson, market researcher for commodity data firm Expana. "Folks are still looking to get that juicy steak, and they don't want to pay ribeye prices sometimes," he said. The U.S. has increasingly relied on beef imports over the past 30 years to meet demand for ground beef. Imports of Brazilian boneless beef trimmings used for hamburgers were a record 6,888 metric tons in the week ended on May 10, signaling strong demand, said Bob Brown, an independent livestock market analyst. "We are so in love with hamburgers," he said. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture indefinitely blocked imports of Mexican cattle this month due to screwworm in Mexico. U.S. feedlots fatten Mexican cattle for roughly six to eight months before sending them to slaughter, meaning the ban would hit beef supplies after the peak of summertime demand, economists said. The USDA also closed the border for Mexican cattle imports from late November through February, which could tighten supplies this summer, they added. "Slaughter has declined dramatically recently," David Anderson, livestock economist at Texas A&M University, said. "If we have less beef produced, that's part of the recipe for higher prices." At some specialty butcher shops, customers who are long accustomed to paying higher prices for fresh local meat haven't pulled back on their spending, shop owners said. "I don't think people are shying away from meat," Bill Begale, owner of Chicago butcher shop Paulina Market, said, noting that there are no shortages of customers for their fresh meat, homemade sausages and expansive deli items. Chavis, in the meantime, said she has started shopping at Lidl and Aldi stores, instead of Food Lion and Walmart, as she hunts for cheaper ground beef. Alas, she said, "it's a problem all over."
CBS News
23-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
U.S. beef prices reach record highs as cattle industry struggles to keep costs down
Beef prices at all-time highs, up nearly 50% from 5 years ago Fort Worth, Texas — The dinner shopping list for Darlowe Torkelson and his wife was short. At today's prices, it consisted of just one sirloin steak and one potato. Torkelson of Argyle, Texas, told CBS News his family doesn't yet know the upper limit of what they are willing to pay for certain groceries. "I haven't found it, I'd like to see it back down," Torkelson said. The average cost of one pound of ground beef reached a record-high of $5.80 in April, according to numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is up nearly 50% from five years ago. "We are very, very conscious of how high the prices are in the meat case," said rancher Stephen Kirkland, owner of the Z Bar Cattle Company. Kirkland said he has been trying to absorb the price increases at the two butcher shops he owns near Fort Worth, Texas. Kirkland says that a year ago, he could buy cattle for about $1,500 per steer. Now, he says the price has risen to nearly $2,400. "$2,400 for one steer going into the feed yard, and then feed and everything else, transportation, everything else that gets involved in that," Kirkland said of the cost. Raising those steers also comes at a higher cost, with prices going up for feed, land and financing. Those cost increases have contributed to U.S. cattle herds falling to their lowest numbers in more than 70 years, according to USDA data. "We've had a lot of drought the past couple of years, and so it's been harder and harder to keep enough grass to feed the cows," said rancher Kim Radaker Bays, who raises Herefords and Texas Longhorns at Twin Canyons Ranch south of Fort Worth. She has to weigh the cost to keep the herd fed and healthy against the price they will command at market. She says that if a cow is non-pregnant, or "open" — meaning it's not carrying a calf and growing the herd — it's a better financial decision at today's prices for Bays to sell it. "It just costs too much to feed them if you don't get a calf every year," Bays explains. With supplies tightening, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts that beef prices will rise throughout 2025. Kirkland says he won't speculate on when the price of beef will be too high for consumers. "But as cattle prices increase, we're left with no other choice," Kirkland said. "If we want to stay profitable, we want to stay in business at all, you've got to go up on your price."
