Congressman Troy Downing, R-Mont., joined ‘Mornings with Maria’ to debate the shutdown’s financial toll, record-high beef costs and the president’s $2,000 aid plan amid rising fears of inflation and rising debt.
Beef costs have climbed to report highs, and but Individuals maintain shopping for steaks.
Economists say that deep-rooted demand helps drive costs larger and there’s little signal it is going to ease anytime quickly.
Glynn Tonsor, a professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State College, advised Fox Information Digital that sturdy shopper demand continues to push beef costs upward, no matter provide fluctuations.
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“There’s nothing that forces me otherwise you or anyone else once we go into the grocery retailer to pay extra for beef. Persons are selecting to,” he mentioned.
“The patron need for beef is robust and, whatever the supply-side state of affairs, that has the impact of pulling costs up.”
The typical worth of beef in grocery shops climbed from about $8.40 per pound in March to $9.18 per pound by August 2025. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP / Getty Photographs)
In accordance with USDA knowledge, the common worth of beef in grocery shops climbed from about $8.40 per pound in March to $9.18 per pound by August 2025, a roughly 9% enhance over that interval.
Individuals are nonetheless shopping for, although, in reality, greater than ever.
In 2024, consumers spent over $40 billion on recent beef, which made up greater than half of all fresh-meat gross sales, in keeping with knowledge from Beef Analysis, a contractor to the Nationwide Cattlemen’s Beef Affiliation.
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Business analysts say that whereas beef provides are anticipated to get even tighter in 2025, costs may climb a bit larger.
Regardless of these pressures, economists like Tonsor say Individuals’ loyalty to beef stays unmatched and that large-scale manufacturing is a part of what retains it inside attain for shoppers.
Cattle are proven in pens on the Cattlemen’s Columbus Livestock Public sale in Columbus, Texas, on Oct. 8, 2025. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle/Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
“I might argue that these economies of scale profit shoppers,” Tonsor mentioned. “The flexibility to function at a less expensive value per head and, in the end, per pound produced provides us the power to supply beef and each different merchandise we’re speaking about at a less expensive worth. Something we try this loses these economies of scale truly hurts shoppers within the type of larger costs.”
However even with sturdy shopper urge for food retaining the market buoyant, ranchers are going through challenges on the opposite finish of the availability chain.
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Whereas sturdy demand is one purpose beef costs stay excessive, provide is one other.
Years of drought, excessive feed prices and an getting old ranching inhabitants have thinned herds throughout the nation, leaving the U.S. cattle provide at its lowest degree in additional than 70 years.
A ranch hand rounds up cattle on the Adams Ranch Inc. in St. Lucie County, Florida, on July 9, 2013. (Ty Wright/Bloomberg / Getty Photographs)
Derrell Peel, a professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State College, mentioned the present provide crunch gained’t be fastened in a single day.
“The actual fact of the matter is there’s actually nothing anyone can do to vary this in a short time,” Peel mentioned. “We’re in a decent provide state of affairs that took a number of years to develop, and it’ll take a number of years to get out of it.”
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He famous that there’s no fast strategy to ease strain on cattle costs, because it takes roughly two years to carry animals to market and a number of other years to rebuild herds.
In the meantime, the Trump administration says it’s working to carry down beef costs by boosting provide by extra imports from international locations like Argentina, whereas laying the groundwork for a long-term plan to strengthen the U.S. cattle business.
