Consumer Confidence And Beef Prices
It’s a great time to be raising cattle, who knows how high cattle prices will climb, in fact it’s all rosy with one caveat, the consumer’s demand for beef. Welcome to Open Range, I’m Susan Allen Stay tuned for the story after a quick break. Just received my latest Williams-Sonoma catalog and was tickled pink with their feature on Steak House Classics including side-dish recipes from America’s top steakhouses that are reported to make steaks sizzle! Postive PR we need. For Americas ranchers to take full advantage of the good cattle market we must have a strong demand for beef. The fact meat prices have increased nearly six percent from last year means that consumption of red meat and chicken could decline by about two pounds per person according to research from the Livestock Marketing Information Center. At the recent USDA”S Annual Outlook forum Joseph Glauber, USDA’s chief economist, reported that in 2011, consumer prices for food are expected to rise to between 3% and 4% and possibly more in the latter half of the year, ending a tame period at the supermarket, Troy Marshall, BEEF magazines contributing Editor wrote recently in a piece titled the Politics of High Food Prices that “ If steak becomes so expensive that it’s only consumed on special occasions, then it’s the beef industry’s problem. But if the average U.S. household is forced to rearrange its budget to be able to afford hamburger, it will soon become Washington’s problem.”
