The Price of Beef Soars
How will the soaring increase in the price of beef impact your backyard barbecue?
According to CNNMoney, If you're already shocked by how much your favorite cut of beef costs at the supermarket, brace yourself because prices will keep going up.
Surging commodity prices already have consumers paying more for groceries such as eggs, milk, cereal and meat. The price of beef in particular has shot through the roof.
In February, the average retail price per pound for beef was $3.87, up 12.4% versus a year ago, according to market research firm FreshLook Data.
The average retail price for a pound of chicken was up 3.9% in February versus a year ago, turkey was up 5.4%, veal up 6.7% and pork up 10%.
Among all meat production, beef producers typically incur some of the highest production costs. For example, costs for cattle farming are much higher than for poultry farming.
Cattle farmers pay more for each animal, land for grazing, fertilizers, feed and processing systems versus poultry farmers.
Also the time it takes to prepare cattle for sale is much longer compared to other meats. It's just 46 days for chicken but can take a few years for beef.
Now, on top of the already high costs of doing business, inflation is further driving up expenses.
U.S. beef producers blame these higher production costs -- up 14% in the past year -- for the jump in consumer prices.
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