producers worry beef may become a luxury

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Feb 18, 2013 8:01 PM

DES MOINES, Iowa - Beef prices are expected to increase as much as 10 percent by summer, leading beef producers and sellers to worry that their product might become a luxury.

“We can’t let beef turn into lobster,” said Ed Greiman, president of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association.

Retail beef prices have risen by an average of $1 per pound since 2007. Prices for cattle have jumped by as much as 25 percent in the past two years as the nation’s herd dropped to its lowest level in six decades while foreign export demand boomed.

At the Dahl’s Foods supermarket in Des Moines, meat director Mike Hoffman showed smaller, cheaper cuts of beef selling for less than $4 per package. Those “will keep customers’ taste for beef alive,” he said.

Hoffman said many of the choicer cuts of steak such as ribeye and New York strip now are sold in 12-ounce cuts rather than the traditional 16-ounce cuts to keep the checkout price under record prices per pound.

“Our suppliers have held the line as best as they could, but we’ve seen a 5 (percent) to 10 percent increase in wholesale costs in recent months,” he said. “Some of that cost has to be passed on.”

“Those folks who have freezer storage space at home might want to stock up now, while we’re still in the low-demand winter season before prices go up,” Hoffman advised.

At Jesse’s Embers in Des Moines, co-owner Deena Edelstein watched the lunchtime crowd fill the 78 seats. The aroma of beef from the open grill spread over the 50-year-old restaurant’s little dining room.

She and partner Marty Scarpino are raising prices by about $1 for most items.

“We have to raise our prices, and we hate to do it. But the price of meat keeps going up,” she said.

An Embers lunch customer, Sean Sweeney, said he knows beef from the producing end. He grew up on a northern Iowa cattle farm.

“The cattle producers are caught between a rock and a hard place,” Sweeney said. “The price of corn is high, so cattle producers can’t afford to keep as many animals.

“So you have fewer animals and high demand, and that creates high prices.”

Corn prices have averaged $7 per bushel in the past 12 months.

“Beef is in danger of becoming a luxury item,” Sweeney said. “That won’t be good.”

Signs of weakening demand for beef have shown up in recent weeks.

Beef’s rivals in the protein business, pork and poultry, can reproduce and grow their animal herds much faster. So attractive prices mean that the competition for the protein dollar has become fierce.

Cattle trader Dennis Smith of Archer Financial Services in Chicago said lower chicken prices “will prove to be a tough competitor (for beef) for the consumer dollar.”

Jesse’s Embers head chef Eddy Perryman notes that as beef prices have risen, “we’ve sold a ton of chicken, probably as much as ever.”

http://www.azcentral.com/business/free/20130218us-beef-rising-costs.html

[himher 634]

The price of corn is high, so cattle producers can’t afford to keep as many animals

U.S. energy policy now mandates that about 15 percent of global corn production be

converted into ethanol for fuel use. We use a structural VAR to estimate the dynamic

effect on corn prices of the quadrupling of corn‐based ethanol production since 2005.

Our model allows for ethanol production to affect corn prices not only by increasing

current corn demand, but also by raising the demand for inventories. We estimate that

corn prices were about 30 percent greater, on average, between 2006 and 2010 than

they would have been if ethanol production had remained at 2005 levels.

http://agecon.ucdavis.edu/people/faculty/aaron-smith/docs/Carter_Rausser_Smith_Ethanol_Paper_submit.pdf

Thank you liberals for the gift of not only high fuel but high food prices. Please stop complaining about what you bring on yourselves.

Edited February 19, 2013 by himher

[Neonred 3,647]

And there is no consumer inflation, right?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

corn is the most federally subsidized crops in the u.s. so basically you're saying you like big gubmint when it means a steady diet of cheap red meat.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Why the panic? With beef prices rising, there's always horse meat.

[SAT 9,609]

I don't often eat horse meat. But when I do, I prefer quarter horses.......

Stay hungry my friends....

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

This thread needs Darnell recommending mutton tagine.

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

The price of corn is high, so cattle producers can’t afford to keep as many animals

U.S. energy policy now mandates that about 15 percent of global corn production be

converted into ethanol for fuel use. We use a structural VAR to estimate the dynamic

effect on corn prices of the quadrupling of corn‐based ethanol production since 2005.

Our model allows for ethanol production to affect corn prices not only by increasing

current corn demand, but also by raising the demand for inventories. We estimate that

corn prices were about 30 percent greater, on average, between 2006 and 2010 than

they would have been if ethanol production had remained at 2005 levels.

http://agecon.ucdavis.edu/people/faculty/aaron-smith/docs/Carter_Rausser_Smith_Ethanol_Paper_submit.pdf

Thank you liberals for the gift of not only high fuel but high food prices. Please stop complaining about what you bring on yourselves.

Edited February 19, 2013 by JensJrny2Ray

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Good beef is already more expensive than lobster is here.

[TBoneTX 46,121]

*** Thread moved from P&R to Off Topic -- original post not political and subsequent discussion chiefly not political. ***

[The Mean Lady 604]

Ground beef is so expensive in Canada.

People are so excited when they have a sale for 3.99.

And I'm like bich plz I get my ground beef for 1.99 at Aldi.