Denmark Becomes First Country To Tax Farting Animals

Almost everything I've read on beef prices points to widespread drought and a lower cattle population due to the high feed cost, which is causing ranchers to send more heifers to slaughter.

Unique Market Conditions Will Keep Beef Cattle Prices High | Livestock News | lancasterfarming.com

Droughts, complicated by climate change, result in US beef herd hitting historic low • Missouri Independent

Beef Prices Soar to Record Highs, Yet Farmers Struggle to Reap the Benefits | Market Intel | American Farm Bureau Federation

It's true..inventories are way down ( the supply side of demand). The reasons for that are multiplicative; but interest rates and feed costs are a big part of it. Virtually all retail pricing for most commodities increased the last four years. I'm not arguing with you about govt. spending's influence on retail pricing. The money supply affects everything. I think it's a factor..believe what you want.

Covid responses affected everything, granted. Trump spent more than he should have in the previous term, granted. A big part of the government overspend is what they spent it on..specifically. There are factors outside the current admins influence, but they also contributed to the balooned money supply. The money supply drove up retail pricing for most everything, including most  beef market sectors who routinely operate on borrowed monies. Elevated interest rates affected almost all markets, too.

Cattle ranchers grow hay, corn, and alfalfa to feed their herds, when there is a prolonged drought the yields are impacted and they have to buy feed instead of grow it. It's more expensive and of course, when everybody is trying to buy it the price goes up. 

The biggest direct impact on beef prices right now is drought which has caused poor conditions for both pasture grazing and growing crops to feed the cattle.

From the articles:

"His data showed that the total number of cattle and calves in the country is less than it has been since 1951, and beef cow inventory is smaller than it’s been since 1961."

"Droughty conditions that began in 2020 in key beef-producing areas are continuing to spread, helping to keep cattle numbers low, he said."

"Pasture conditions began to deteriorate across the United States in 2020. The La Niña-driven drought would press on for the next three years causing pasture conditions to deteriorate and sending prices for feed grains to record levels (Figure 2). At the same time, inflation began to rise, driving up costs for everyone in the United States, including farmers and ranchers. The combination of drought and high input costs compelled farmers to place a higher-than-normal percentage of female cattle on feed for slaughter, rather than keeping them for replacement breeding"

"During droughts, Doerr said she weans her calves off milk earlier than usual, a common practice in dry years, but one that can also put young cattle at higher risk of dying. She also slows the growth of her herd, and spends more money on sourcing feed for cattle."

"In the nation’s top 10 beef-producing states — responsible for nearly 60% of the country’s beef production — half reported the lowest number of cattle since 1995 as of the beginning of this year, according to an Investigate Midwest analysis of the USDA’s data."

"Finding land with plentiful grazing for cattle is difficult in drought years. An analysis of USDA pastureland data shows that grazable Nebraska pastureland shrunk by a third since 2019 during the month of June."

Go ahead and blame Biden if you need to and ignore the irrefutable fact of the impact of drought, but when I used to talk to ranchers and farmers on a regular basis for my job, the number one concern they had on the eastern plains of Colorado was water.

Heh..did I totally blame Biden? I excoriated Trump's spending as well. I did not ignore drought effects..only a fool would do so. Water resources have been critical for ag and the beef industry since the inception of time. It's also foolish to ignore the effects of the money supply on retail pricing. Some ranchers raise their own feed, but there's a bunch that don't. I've been directly involved in different segments of the beef industry for 50 years or so..I didn't make this stuff up.You sorta lean left..I lean right ( fairly far right on fiscal issues). I think that's the overall significant conflict here. But..have a great day.

I know of some ranchers who have signed massive contracts for long term  solar farm leases that have reduced herds.  Also it is interesting who is buying this type of land in recent years.  There 

has always been dry years and ranchers have always trucked hay in from other states  but this drives up cost. Cost or profit or regulations are the only real reasons for farmers or ranchers to choose to produce food for consumers.  Right now the producers are not reaping the income from the high prices at the stores.

Then the real problem is that wholesalers are taking advantage of DAT HORRIBUL BIDEN INFLAYSHUN as a pretext to jack up consumer prices.

I'm sure that this is true all across the country, in myriad industries,  that high prices for consumers are due to high margins, not high costs. Otherwise, how could corporate America be showing record profits all across the board?

I do find it odd that as an expert in the beef industry, knowledgeable about the current drought and the fact that beef cow inventory is at its lowest point since 1961, you didn't mention it in your reasons for higher beef prices.

There are some legit gripes for Monday mornding quarterbacks to point out regarding the COVID response.   I think government checks were warranted in many cases....but also not in many.   My retired mother on a fixed income was given a check.   She and millions of other retired people in the same boat did not have their income impacted by COVID - but they got a check anyway.       Its difficult to pass broad policy and specifically target it to certain groups of people.....and if you do the people who dont get a check cry foul.

Nevertheless the US did it better than just about any other country.   Our inflation is now lower, unemployment better, and GDP growth higher than any  industrialized country in  Europe or Asia.

People who say we should not have increased the money supply should take a look at China who followed that very path.   THey went into COVID with the hottest economy on the planet.   Three years later they still cant climb out of the hole they dug and have a massive unemployment problem and their currency is collapsing despite their efforts to keep the money supply low.     The US did it better.   Thats a fact.   

PJ, you're being objective, but sadly, the majority of American citizens drank the MAGA Kool-aid and failed to be similarly intelligent. I really, really don't understand how the Republipigs managed to sell this DA EKOMONY IZ TERRIBUL bullshit. Yes, prices are higher, That's because of a one-time global event. And why don't the MAGAs blame Trump for that, by the way, since their thinking is BAD THING, WHO PREZIDUNT?

The truly alarming aspect of all this is that the latest election proved how many stupid, stupid, stupid people there are in this country. We have the greatest and richest democracy in the history of the world, and we're throwing it away. Maybe we don't deserve what we have.

Oh, I mentioned how far down inventories were long before you pointed it out in this thread. Look back at earlier posts. It's true I didn't highlight drought in those earlier posts, but I acknowledged that factor and you're still complaining. In the end, it won't matter..as we won't see eye to eye on it because you just can't accept the fact that a balooned money supply affects retail pricing on a lot of items..including beef. But..that's OK. I'd send you a resume but you'd claim it was fake, even though it's provable.. Believe whom/ what ya want..I don't care.