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U.S. beef prices reach record highs as cattle industry struggles to keep costs down
(www.cbsnews.com)
this post was submitted on 23 May 2025
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United States | News & Politics
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Beef prices are bought and sold on the commodities markets. Prices are directly related to investors speculation and historically have been very loosely related to supply and demand.
Prices go up, so the herd size increases until it reaches market saturation point. Then the prices crash hard and herd sizes decrease. Generally this is a pretty quick up and down. Less than 3 years.
So what's different this time.
Prices went up, herd sized increased. Then prices started to fall so people started to sell down their herds.
Then enter the orange moron with his trade wars. Massive speculation of the value of U.S. beef hit at the same time herd size was decreasing. So people started selling off deeper into their herd because booming money with no guarantees on tomorrow.
So we're are we now, herds are small, prices are high. Availability of animals are low so it pushes prices higher. People have a choice of increasing their herd size and hoping prices hold for 2 years, or selling off deeper into their herd.