Where’s the beef?
I rarely eat beef. Maybe once or twice a year. The closest thing I eat to beef is bison, and even that only a pound or two a year. I long ago switched to chicken, turkey and fish for animal protein.
Beef prices are skyrocketing.
“Retail beef prices are hovering near a record high. Last month, consumers paid on average a little over $7 per pound for ground beef, up 13% from a year earlier and 50% from five years earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — far outpacing the general inflation rate. A decent ribeye steak from the grocery store now looks like a luxury, with prime cuts typically pushing beyond $20 per pound. Even some beloved Texas barbecue joints are shutting down due to the skyrocketing cost of brisket.
“These are good times if you’re a rancher like Brown, who endured years of tight margins before the pandemic. But the steep prices are making shoppers wince — and creating a serious political problem for President Donald Trump and Republicans, whose control of Congress hinges on convincing voters they have inflation under control. Trump hasn’t made it easy for his party: Just this week, he told the press, “I love the inflation” when asked about the latest data showing it spiked last month.”
That’s not likely to turn around since screwworm has re-entered the US. It had been under control in Central America until the Trump Administration cut funding for the sterile release program.
“And now they must contend with an invasive parasite known as the New World screwworm, which feeds on mammals and can devastate a rancher’s livestock. The flesh-eating fly larva was eradicated from the U.S. decades ago but has recently been migrating north from Central America. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed at least four recent cases in Texas, sparking alarm in the cattle industry that the screwworm will spread.”
It will take years to undo the damage and get the screwworm plague under control. If you like beef, maybe sell some of your AI stock or pay in Bitcoin.
Beef prices skyrocket
Beef prices are skyrocketing.
“Retail beef prices are hovering near a record high. Last month, consumers paid on average a little over $7 per pound for ground beef, up 13% from a year earlier and 50% from five years earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — far outpacing the general inflation rate. A decent ribeye steak from the grocery store now looks like a luxury, with prime cuts typically pushing beyond $20 per pound. Even some beloved Texas barbecue joints are shutting down due to the skyrocketing cost of brisket.
“These are good times if you’re a rancher like Brown, who endured years of tight margins before the pandemic. But the steep prices are making shoppers wince — and creating a serious political problem for President Donald Trump and Republicans, whose control of Congress hinges on convincing voters they have inflation under control. Trump hasn’t made it easy for his party: Just this week, he told the press, “I love the inflation” when asked about the latest data showing it spiked last month.”
That’s not likely to turn around since screwworm has re-entered the US. It had been under control in Central America until the Trump Administration cut funding for the sterile release program.
“And now they must contend with an invasive parasite known as the New World screwworm, which feeds on mammals and can devastate a rancher’s livestock. The flesh-eating fly larva was eradicated from the U.S. decades ago but has recently been migrating north from Central America. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed at least four recent cases in Texas, sparking alarm in the cattle industry that the screwworm will spread.”
It will take years to undo the damage and get the screwworm plague under control. If you like beef, maybe sell some of your AI stock or pay in Bitcoin.
Beef prices skyrocket
Joel:
Yo old “more likely than not” many of these manufacturers voted for the person in the White House. The first 4 years was not enough to convince them he was incompetent in any position governing an economy, government or nation.
He has trashed quite a few laws which protect people in general. By that I mean, work, product, health, etc. It will take years to re-implement some of the rules and laws he has deleted as the president. These were there for reasons much of which was to protect citizens.
I am speaking in generalities here. Just a matter of scanning to find the points of which I speak. We are not big beef eaters either. Maybe in a stew?
Beef is way cheaper than fish.
I live in Denver and our fishmonger’s cheapest fish is $25/lb. Scallops are $75/lb. Halibut os $40-60/lb.
I can buy good ground beef for $8/lb and beef tenderloin for $25/lb.
Beef freezes well and fish does not.
@Dave,
Guess it depends on where you live. Here in Rhode Island, blue catfish is $10/lb, and that’s at Whole Paycheck. Trout and tilapia here are cheaper than any cuts of beef, too. Salmon and tuna are close to some of the cheaper beef cuts. I don’t care for halibut and I only get scallops at restaurants.
I routinely freeze fish when I return from the store. I haven’t found any fish that doesn’t tolerate freezing well. Your ahi and salmon in sushi and sashimi were certainly frozen to kill parasites, and they taste just fine–I’ve had sushi and sashimi in Evergreen CO.
Speculative, but beef pricing is a much more opaque manner to reduce cattle industry carbon footprint than laws and regulations. Inflation itself probably is carbon positive…..direct hit to purchasing energy and pretty clear hit to truly disposable income. Green New Dealers probably should be against “affordability”. Affordability will drive increase aviation and other “optional” activities that use a good deal of energy. Similarly demographic trends look to me likely to do a lot of the lifting needed to stabilize and then reverse AGW the rest of this century. Not sure about impact of AI, but my gut is it is modeled too high as far as energy use. There will be very intense activity to optimize token consumption. AI will get “turned loose” on various firms’ operation and within nanoseconds will think ‘man, need to concentrate on reducing token consumption’.