{"id":382532,"date":"2025-11-16T07:53:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T07:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/382532\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T07:53:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T07:53:13","slug":"if-you-think-beef-is-expensive-now-just-wait-until-next-year-when-prices-could-soar-nearly-60","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/382532\/","title":{"rendered":"If you think beef is expensive now, just wait until next year when prices could soar nearly 60%"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beef prices have been giving Americans sticker shock at grocery stores lately, and they are poised to reach even more stomach-churning levels next year, according to Omaha Steaks CEO Nate Rempe.<\/p>\n

In an interview Friday on Fox Business\u2019 Mornings with Maria<\/a>, he pointed out that the U.S. cattle herd is at 70-year lows while beef demand is at all-time highs.<\/p>\n

To rebuild herds, ranchers must hold on to heifers rather than sending them out to meat processors. There are signs of that happening, but that also means beef supply will shrink in the near term, Rempe warned.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we are headed for what I\u2019m calling the $10-a-pound reality by third quarter of \u201926,\u201d he predicted. \u201cFamilies are going to see $10-a-pound ground beef in the grocery store.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the latest consumer price index data<\/a>, the average price of ground beef was $6.323 a pound in September. That\u2019s up 14% since January and 26% from January 2024.<\/p>\n

If ground beef hits $10 a pound, the price would represent a 58% surge from September\u2019s level.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

St. Louis Fed<\/p>\n

Anger about worsening affordability delivered stunning losses to Republicans during off-year elections this month. <\/p>\n

On Friday, Trump\u00a0announced that he\u2019s\u00a0scrapping\u00a0tariffs\u00a0on beef, coffee, and a range of other commodities<\/a>. But non-tariff factors are driving beef\u2019s price spike.<\/p>\n

Droughts, high interest rates, and expensive feed have combined to shrink the U.S. cattle herd sharply. At the same time, demand for protein is also soaring and is even showing up in Starbucks lattes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wesley Batista, who shares control of the\u00a0$15 billion<\/a> meat-packing behemoth\u00a0JBS<\/a>, said last month the U.S. needs to import more product from abroad<\/a> to meet its insatiable demand.<\/p>\n

That includes supply from Brazil and Argentina. While Trump eased tariffs on Argentine beef, Rempe pointed out the country accounts for just 2% of U.S. beef supply, meaning the solution to higher prices will depend on domestic producers.<\/p>\n

But Trump has also targeted meat producers<\/a>, accusing them of \u201cdriving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am asking the DOJ to act expeditiously,\u201d Trump posted last week on social media. \u201cAction must be taken immediately to protect Consumers, combat Illegal Monopolies, and ensure these Corporations are not criminally profiting at the expense of the American People.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Rempe vowed not to raise prices on Omaha Steaks\u2019 primary gift packages, saying the company can leverage inventory stockpiles, vertical integration, and technology like AI, automation and robotics.<\/p>\n

He also suggested consumers buy ground beef that\u2019s 80% meat and 20% fat because it represents a better cost per ounce from a yield perspective.<\/p>\n

Still, if shoppers see ground beef at the market with price tags that read $10.00 per pound, it will cross a major psychological threshold.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be tough on families,\u201d Rempe said. \u201cI mean that\u2019s going to be quite a shock when that price point hits the four digits. It really feels like it has increased dramatically.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beef prices have been giving Americans sticker shock at grocery stores lately, and they are poised to reach…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":382533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2906,5533,64,2105,266,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-382532","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-agriculture","9":"tag-beef","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-food-and-drink","12":"tag-inflation","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115558299283960013","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}