Colonel Nonreg said:

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I want to know right now, where in the F*** yall are shopping and paying $8/# for ground beef??? You people are either B A D shoppers or you've got way too much money. Kroger goes on sale for 80/20 at $4/# on the regular.

BTW, ground beef was $1.25/# in 2022.

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Ground chuck was $6.57/lb at WalMart last week. And almost sold out Sunday when I was shopping.

HTownAg98 said:

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My local HEB has 96% lean ground beef for $8.16/lb. 80% lean is $6.49/lb.

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My local HEB+ is great as a source for USDA Prime steaks. Their prices on GB are significantly more than Kroger.

Colonel Nonreg said:

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I want to know right now, where in the F*** yall are shopping and paying $8/# for ground beef??? You people are either B A D shoppers or you've got way too much money. Kroger goes on sale for 80/20 at $4/# on the regular.

BTW, ground beef was $1.25/# in 2022.

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The cheapest I've seen ground beef around here in East Tennessee is about 6 to 650 a pound.

Well, the nearest Kroger to me is in Bryan, so I guess I'm SOL.

I believe there are enough competent people in his ear talking about how slaughterhouses are extremely consolidate and tightly regulated. I wouldn't be surprised if he does something that allows ranchers more direct control over butchering and selling.

Maybe but most upper middle class people like usda inspected meat

My local processor is booked solid for months and hopefully ICE stays away because I got feeling some of his staff are not legal

JVSchroeder said:

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Best guess folks have on X is buying more South American beef to undercut American ranchers.

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Why are beef prices so high?

It's ridiculous.

Disclosure - I want beef prices to come down

Step one. Years of drought caused ranchers to thin down their herds. Supply goes down.

Step 2. Everything that gets built gets built on land that will no longer be used for cattle grazing. Supply goes down.

Step 3. Screw worm flies in Mexico = no live cattle imported from Mexico. Supply goes down.

Step 4. The other factors drive prices up and ranchers say eff it, sell em all. Which drives down long term supply even more.

But the number of mouths to feed in the country continues to grow. Combine the natural population growth, with an extra 15 million Biden imported for votes… and demand stays strong.

And I wind up paying 38 bucks for 2 little ribeyes to grill at home.

As a cattle owner it sure is fun to sell high. But as a consumer it ain't much fun.

But every cattle owner knows the market is a roller coaster every day.

Just got back for Costco for a big stock up on meat. Anything beef is freakin high. I got 6 packages of their organic ground beef because thats good stuff. It's around $6.50lb there. Other than that, I got chicken and pork chops because that beef is too high.

Made actual money in the cow business for the last 2 years. Retaining no heifers……

Why does everyone want cheap beef but don't blink at every subscription service in the world reaching in your pocket and not willing to do anything. About price escalation everywhere else?

Our family has raised cattle since the 1900s and there have been plenty of years where there was very little money to go around. I'm glad to see my dad is finally able to buy a new truck when he wants in his 70s.

Rest assured, if the market stays up like this, lots of folks will move out to the country and flood the market with cows trying to get in on the action. It's happened before and it will happen again.

Hagen95 said:

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Our family has raised cattle since the 1900s and there have been plenty of years where there was very little money to go around. I'm glad to see my dad is finally able to buy a new truck when he wants in his 70s.

Rest assured, if the market stays up like this, lots of folks will move out to the country and flood the market with cows trying to get in on the action. It's happened before and it will happen again.

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No, that won't happen, because land has inflated much more than beef!

You can't make land pencil out if cattle or any other livestock is your only income.

Most people don't have the patience/endurance to make it in the cattle business. It can be a long time between investment to profit.

Hagen95 said:

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It seems the market should be handling these prices and not the government.

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Do you ever watch a political discussion? Do you see all politicians complaining about the price of groceries? Americans expect their politicians to help with the price of just about everything?

zooguy96 said:

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I haven't bought beef in at least 4 months. I bought some skirt steak while I was in Texas in May; since then, prices are just too high, especially when I can get other meats for a much lower price.

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Just because you're a zoo guy and CAN eat the animals there doesn't mean you should….

We're getting quite a bit more money for our beef right now, but it's making up for how insanely expensive production costs were the last 5 years.

96ags said:

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Hagen95 said:

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Our family has raised cattle since the 1900s and there have been plenty of years where there was very little money to go around. I'm glad to see my dad is finally able to buy a new truck when he wants in his 70s.

Rest assured, if the market stays up like this, lots of folks will move out to the country and flood the market with cows trying to get in on the action. It's happened before and it will happen again.

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No, that won't happen, because land has inflated much more than beef!

You can't make land pencil out if cattle or any other livestock is your only income.

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That's the thing, they're cattle being bought with discretionary income as a hobby. They don't care if they paid $10K/acre for the land. As long as they have a couple of head out there to raise, they're fine. What they should be doing is renting out the land to someone that knows what they're doing and just cash the rent check.

Mr.Milkshake said:

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Hope the bottom drops out of the beef market. Compared to pre-Covid, Prime is outrageous and the quality is trash.

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You are so ignorant my friend. I wouldn't advise you to get out of bed any longer.

Hagen95 said:

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Most people don't have the PATIENCE / ENDURANCE to make it in the cattle business.

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You misspelled

DELUSIONAL STUPIDITY.
hth

It put me through college so I'm not going to complain too much.

Fitch said:

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We have around 1000 head right now. Thank god we locked in a floor price.

Anyone complaining about high beef prices at the grocer is welcome to come out and enjoy the fun. There's not profit being made at these levels, it's just more financial risk cause the purchase price of feeder cows is equally higher - margins are gone, downside risk is up.

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This clown's language screams ignorance. "Feeder cows?"

jja79 said:

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Hoyt Ag said:

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coolerguy12 said:

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I have cows and I can't understand the outrage here. Prices are insane. Go out and touch some grass.

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Same. Need more context to justify this 'outrage'.

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I was raised the beef cattle business so I'm sympathetic. Beef prices are a problem for the overwhelming majority of Americans though.

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Yea I guess that is why consumers are buying more and more of the higher priced cuts. The demand for USDA prime steaks has never been greater. Somebody is paying those prices in volume.

Which doesn't mean prices aren't an issue for many,many people.

Feeder cattle continuous contract is down $7 bucks to $372. Last year it was in the $240's.

Mr.Milkshake said:

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Hope the bottom drops out of the beef market. Compared to pre-Covid, Prime is outrageous and the quality is trash.

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If prime is too high for you then buy a lower grade. Fact is the demand for Prime US beef has never been higher.

Thunderstormr said:

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jja79 said:

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Hoyt Ag said:

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coolerguy12 said:

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I have cows and I can't understand the outrage here. Prices are insane. Go out and touch some grass.

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Same. Need more context to justify this 'outrage'.

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I was raised the beef cattle business so I'm sympathetic. Beef prices are a problem for the overwhelming majority of Americans though.

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Yea I guess that is why consumers are buying more and more of the higher priced cuts. The demand for USDA prime steaks has never been greater. Somebody is paying those prices in volume.

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Grilled me up a 20oz. Prime ribeye for lunch today, perfect medium rare. Don't know what I paid and don't care. It's my Friday spoil and it melts.

Sq 17 said:

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Thanks I deleted there is about 30,000 acres of projects under development not all are in west Texas

Of course the 5 largest counties total 11,000,000 acres so to get to 3% of this land would be a little 300,000 acres of solar farms

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And in those largest counties, a safe stocking rate may well be 100 ac/au. If you're going to do it, thats the place.

Buy whole or half beef from ranchers like me and your cost on steaks etc dramatically goes down. Buy from grocery stores and packers it's high. I hate people saying my product is too high but will spend a buttload on iPhone or Starbucks. For once in my life we have a sector of agriculture truly making me money I can put away for years. Not just barely scrape by.

Interesting thread. How much does cost of land ownership factor into the cost of beef?

AIUI commercial real estate is generally screwed because most buildings are owned based on variable-rate loans, so an increase in the prime rate immediately increases the cost of property ownership.

Does the same hold for ranches (ownership based on variable-rate loans)? Do ranchers that do own their land frequently take out variable-rate lines of credit secured by their land? Or, do ranchers tend to be immune to interest rates (at least by way of their land ownership cost)?

anecdotal, but everyone around me is now putting cows on their land. I'd really like to partner with one of them but I know less than nothing about livestock.

I used to grill 2 Ribeyes twice a month ($15/pound at Whole Foods). Price went to $25/pound so now we only grill ribeyes once a month.

As a more than adequate substitute I've gotten pretty good smoking pork shoulder/butt and Jamaican jerk chicken.

I miss the ribeyes, but there's a limit to what I'll pay

Colonel Nonreg said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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My local HEB has 96% lean ground beef for $8.16/lb. 80% lean is $6.49/lb.

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My local HEB+ is great as a source for USDA Prime steaks. Their prices on GB are significantly more than Kroger.

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Right this second, 3 lb tray of Kroger branded 80/20 ground beef is $17.99 or $6/lb, 3 lb roll of 80/20 is $16.99 or $5.67/lb, 1 lb roll of 80/20 is $6.49, 1 lb tray of 93/7 is $7.99 with digital coupon and $8.49 without.

That is not significantly cheaper.

Anyone think this means Trump is going to six his anti-trust folks on the packing industry?

I don't care where beef prices are, I don't own cattle and I haven't bought any beef in a long time. I will when the prices come down, but beef is not a necessity to me.

For those who own cattle, good for you the prices are where they are. Over my 30 plus years of preparing tax returns, my practice was geared toward oil and gas, grain farmers, and cattle ranchers. From the real deal farmers with 1,000 to 2,000 acres in production to the ranchers with over 1,000 head to the wannabe guys growing 10 acres of watermelons or with just a few dozen head of cows. While my oil and gas folks did extremely well, grain farming and cattle ranching seemed like good ways to lose a lot of money. In fact, those who did well did so because of the oil and gas income on land they bought in the 20s or inherited from parents or grandparents who did, and still had the mineral rights. That provided the funds to lose money on the other things.

Trump needs to stay out of it. When diamonds get too expensive, sales will drop. Same for vehicles, boats, real estate. So, too, will beef prices. No consumers is owed some price for ground beef or steaks or anything else. The market will adjust. If people keep buying, the price isn't too high.

Too many people In the hay business so people will be getting back in the cow business