Why beef prices have been rising this fall

Whatever we learn about inflation this week, one thing we do know is that beef prices have been going up. Cattle futures rose almost 10% between the end of August and the end of October. We can thank the usual suspects: supply and demand.

Over the last few months, it’s been particularly dry in cattle country.

“The western Dakotas, a large portion of Kansas and Nebraska, and most of Oklahoma,” said Naomi Blohm, senior market advisor at Total Farm Marketing.

She said drought conditions affect cattle production because cows like to spend their waking hours grazing. And droughts mean less hay.

“So when you are in a situation like that, as a rancher, you’re going to limit the number of herd that you have, because there’s only so much feed available,” Blohm said.

Smaller herd sizes aren’t the only factor pushing up beef prices.

Glynn Tonsor, a professor at Kansas State University, said production costs have been rising, too.

“Whether it is feed costs, labor costs, land, rent. Almost all of those entries are going to be higher than they were, certainly before the pandemic,” he said.

And while beef supplies have been dwindling, demand has stayed strong.