Following a long period of heatwaves and drought, cattle supplies in the United States have shrunken resulting in record-high beef prices, Business Insider reports.
A Financial Times analysis reported, citing data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that retail prices have reached $8 per pound of beef.
“This drought is an environmental event having a significant impact on the national herd,” warned Amelia Kent, a local rancher in Louisiana, per FT. “You’re seeing cattle all being sold off heavily . . . and my immediate concern is what does our region and the country’s cattle industry look like six months from now? And 12 months from now, what do our markets look like?”
Reuters reports that soaring prices “incentivize companies to import cheaper beef and discourage U.S. beef purchases by buyers like China, Japan, and Egypt.”
According to the USDA, in 2022 America was ranked number two largest beef and veal exporter, however, the high prices could push the nation down to fourth place.
Compared to last year, beef exports could drop by 14% in 2023, Reuters reports, amounting to 1.4 million metric tons. This represents the lowest number since the COVID-19 pandemic trading in 2020.
For cattle producers and exporters this poses a threat as the soaring prices and the U.S. dollar strength makes American beef less attractive to countries outside North America.
“The future of this industry is not here in the United States,” said Texas farmer Pete Bonds, per Reuters. “It’s offshore.”
According to Katelyn McCullock, director of the Livestock Marketing Information Center, which does industry analysis, U.S. beef imports are expected to surpass the previous high of 3.4 billion pounds in 2015 and reach a record 3.7 billion pounds in 2023. She predicted that imports would reach a new high of 4.2 billion pounds in 2024.
