# Beef prices hit all-time high in U.S. Who do you blame? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 9, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696 "2014-04-09T04:12:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/21 "2014-04-09T13:42:20Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I blame supply and demand. 🙂 Capitalism is just a red herring. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/22 "2014-04-09T13:52:30Z")
In 2012 the most of the U.S. had drought conditions. This didn’t affect cattle directly or immediately; what was hurt was the commodity corn slated to be stored and fed to cattle not only then, but in 2013 and 2014. This drove the price of the feed up to the extent that some farmers have been feeding cheaper [candy and crackers](http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/10/news/economy/farmers-cows-candy-feed/) to beef cattle. [That’s got to make for healthy meat, eh?] Anyway, so beef is more expensive overall, and it tastes like crap lately. The article in the OP had an interesting bit about the call for hamburger helping to lift prices further. In that case, hamburger may be becoming a kind of [Giffen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giffen_good)good. I didn’t vote on the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/23 "2014-04-09T14:00:31Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > Capitalism is just a red herring. On the plus side, Herring is at an all time low price! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/24 "2014-04-09T14:08:59Z")
Clara Peller? ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/25 "2014-04-09T14:30:52Z")
> [@micadw](#): > > Perhaps in your area. We have had a surplus of several inches this past year. I am neither rambling nor absurd. I shall not attest to your ramblingness or absurdness, but rather your wrongness. There are two major factors impacting beef prices. The first, and largest, is drought. The leading news story on the radio this morning was that two city councils voted to make watering restrictions permanent. We’ve had less than half of the average rainfall so far this year. In the eastern half of Texas, it hs been ongoing for over five years. Hay prices have horribly volatile as a result. Everyone that I personally know that has been in the small cow-calf business for most of their life has sold out. Spot markets for hay have done well for a short time, but transportation costs can kick your ass. With fewer small operators supplying feeder calves to the feedlots, the supply is down and it will take a long time to recover. Compound that fact with the fact that a lot of those cow people are older and they will probably choose to not rebuild their herds. I’m no longer leasing out my pasture, so there are no cows on my family’s place for the first time in over a hundred years. That makes me sad. The second, smaller factor is ethanol subsidies. The corn is going to ethanol producers. The feedlots have had to switch to feeds other than corn and they’re having to pay more. There’s a train wreck a-coming here. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/26 "2014-04-09T14:40:05Z")
We are involved in the beef industry and I can tell you its a combination of drought plus consolidation of the beef industry thru monopolies of the meat packing companies. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/27 "2014-04-09T14:53:23Z")
Don’t blame me. I voted for pork. ---
**Author:** ![Vaevictis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f04885/32.png) [@Vaevictis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vaevictis)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/28 "2014-04-09T15:00:49Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > What a weird poll. Not even one credible answer on there, rambling on into absurdity. > > It’s drought conditions. It’s happened many times before. If you read the article, it makes the case that fast food is a big part of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/29 "2014-04-09T15:48:07Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > What a weird poll. Not even one credible answer on there, rambling on into absurdity. > > It’s drought conditions. It’s happened many times before. Exactly. And this poll didn’t even offer anything for dessert. Now I’m totally frustrated. ---
**Author:** ![micadw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@micadw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micadw)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/30 "2014-04-09T19:04:06Z")
> [@Tully\_Mars](#): > > I shall not attest to your ramblingness or absurdness, but rather your wrongness. There are two major factors impacting beef prices. > > The first, and largest, is drought. The leading news story on the radio this morning was that two city councils voted to make watering restrictions permanent. We’ve had less than half of the average rainfall so far this year. > > In the eastern half of Texas, it hs been ongoing for over five years. Hay prices have horribly volatile as a result. Everyone that I personally know that has been in the small cow-calf business for most of their life has sold out. Spot markets for hay have done well for a short time, but transportation costs can kick your ass. With fewer small operators supplying feeder calves to the feedlots, the supply is down and it will take a long time to recover. Compound that fact with the fact that a lot of those cow people are older and they will probably choose to not rebuild their herds. I’m no longer leasing out my pasture, so there are no cows on my family’s place for the first time in over a hundred years. That makes me sad. > > The second, smaller factor is ethanol subsidies. The corn is going to ethanol producers. The feedlots have had to switch to feeds other than corn and they’re having to pay more. There’s a train wreck a-coming here. Aww. That is sweet. You are going to ague your point regardless of your ignorance. I am proud of you. I am specificly referring to cattle in the South east this past fiscial year. Our hay has been tainted. Period. There is no argument to be made. Your cattle my be facing other hardships. And good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/31 "2014-04-09T19:41:48Z")
I blame it on the Bossa Nova. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/32 "2014-04-09T20:15:31Z")
> [@micadw](#): > > Our hay has been tainted. Period. There is no argument to be made. I apologize for the tone of my post. Thank you for pointing out my ignorance. I will post no more in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/33 "2014-04-09T20:43:45Z")
> [@micadw](#): > > Aww. That is sweet. You are going to ague your point regardless of your ignorance. I am proud of you. I am specificly referring to cattle in the South east this past fiscial year. Our hay has been tainted. Period. There is no argument to be made. Your cattle my be facing other hardships. And good luck with that. That’s all fine and dandy, but the Southeast isn’t a major player in the beef cattle market. Drought is the issue; Texas as the #1 cattle-producing state, produces almost 2x the number of cattle that the #2 state (Nebraska) produces, and more than 5x what the first southeastern state (Kentucky) does. So it makes sense that a severe drought in Texas would have a larger impact on the nation’s beef supply than rancid hay in a handful of relatively minor producing states. [http://www.cattlerange.com/cattle-graphs/all-cattle-numbers.html](http://www.cattlerange.com/cattle-graphs/all-cattle-numbers.html) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/34 "2014-04-09T21:14:22Z")
Weird that the article doesn’t mention corn. The subsidies for ethanol production draws off a huge amount of corn (I saw 40% the other day, YMMV) that could go to cattle feed instead. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/35 "2014-04-09T21:22:41Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Weird that the article doesn’t mention corn. The subsidies for ethanol production draws off a huge amount of corn (I saw 40% the other day, YMMV) that could go to cattle feed instead. Yea, but the articles about why beef prices are more expensive this year then last. A lot of corn goes to ethanol production, but so far as I know there hasn’t been a large increase just since last year. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/36 "2014-04-09T21:26:41Z")
Might it not be a combination of pretty much all of the above? Drought Higher feed prices Higher exports Fast food (hadn’t heard that one) And one I haven’t seen mentioned: The early October blizzard in western South Dakota that killed off many thousands of cattle. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/37 "2014-04-09T21:28:06Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Weird that the article doesn’t mention corn. The subsidies for ethanol production draws off a huge amount of corn (I saw 40% the other day, YMMV) that could go to cattle feed instead. Actually I don’t think ethanol has much to do with it as one of the by-products of ethanol production is distiller’s grains which make better feed anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/38 "2014-04-09T21:34:57Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Weird that the article doesn’t mention corn. The subsidies for ethanol production draws off a huge amount of corn (I saw 40% the other day, YMMV) that could go to cattle feed instead. Plus their is competition for growing space since China is buying up more and more American soybeans so it can actually be more profitable to plant soybeans than corn. ---
**Author:** ![micadw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@micadw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micadw)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/39 "2014-04-09T21:41:08Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That’s all fine and dandy, but the Southeast isn’t a major player in the beef cattle market. > > Drought is the issue; Texas as the #1 cattle-producing state, produces almost 2x the number of cattle that the #2 state (Nebraska) produces, and more than 5x what the first southeastern state (Kentucky) does. > > So it makes sense that a severe drought in Texas would have a larger impact on the nation’s beef supply than rancid hay in a handful of relatively minor producing states. > > [http://www.cattlerange.com/cattle-graphs/all-cattle-numbers.html](http://www.cattlerange.com/cattle-graphs/all-cattle-numbers.html) Good Lord almighty. I never commented on the state of the national cattle industry. I made a statement about my issue with my cattle. I do not need to be corrected. Nor do I need a lecture. I did not dismiss drought as a problem, I simply stated that we had a surplus of rain in our area this past year. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696/40 "2014-04-09T23:30:00Z")
Did anyone blame the Jews yet? I think that’s who did it … I know chicken quarters are cheaper due to they only have to pay the butcher to make one cut lol [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beef-prices-hit-all-time-high-in-u-s-who-do-you-blame/685696.md?page=3)