Consumers are hoofing the bill as beef prices rise to their highest level in decades.<\/p>\n
Market conditions for cattle remain volatile as recent U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran prompted a spike in gas prices, which producers and retailers can pass along to consumers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenge right now is gasoline prices,\u201d said Lee McGlamery, co-owner of Tennessee-based MP Agrilytics LLC, an agriculture analytics company. \u201cWe\u2019ll have to see if the retailer wants to pass that along to the consumer. It\u2019s a huge question for the consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGlamery gave his assessment of the cattle market \u2014 with beef prices at their highest since government tracking began in the 1980s \u2014 March 27 during the 2026 Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association convention held at the Fort Worth Convention Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The U.S. Bureau for Labor Statistics said prices for 100% ground beef<\/a> rose to $6.74 per pound in February, a 22% increase from the same time last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n That news comes as the U.S. cattle herd is at 86.2 million head this year, the smallest size in 75 years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s annual Cattle Inventory Report. Texas has about 4 million head, data shows.<\/p>\n Consumers will continue seeing high beef prices at markets, McGlamery said.<\/p>\n \u201cRetail prices are going to continue to increase until consumers show that they\u2019re not going to take anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure we\u2019re at that level yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Cattle producers have a lot of unknown variables to consider, McGlamery said.<\/p>\n \u201cTime works against us in this cycle,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the near future, McGlamery said, cattle raisers could discover that they have more cattle inventory than they have the capacity to process. That could eventually lead to cattle shortages and higher prices, he said.<\/p>\n Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n