WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Consumers will continue to pay more for beef at the grocery store, according to Purdue agricultural economist Chris Hurt.
Hurt points to data dating back to 2007, when feed prices jumped and a drought affected producers in the southern Plains. Since then, beef cow supplies have dropped 9%. Consumers are also eating less meat. In 2007, the average person consumed 65 lbs. of beef. Now, the average person consumes 55 lbs. per year.
At your local grocery store, prices have risen as a result. For an average cut of beef, the price was approximately $4.83 per lbs. in 2011. Hurt said it is a 10% increase from the year before and he predicts in 2012, consumers will cough up more like $5.05 per pound of beef.
Hurt said there may be confusion by the phrase "beef shortage." Supplies are lower but consumers are buying less and buying behavior is a huge component to the equation.
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