DES MOINES, Iowa — Beef prices are expected to increase as much as 10% by summer, leading beef producers and sellers to worry that their product might become a luxury.
"We can't let beef turn into lobster," said Ed Greiman of Garner, the president of the Iowa Cattlemen's Association.
Retail beef prices have risen by an average of $1 per pound since 2007. Prices for cattle have jumped by as much as 25% in the past two years as the nation's herd dropped to its lowest level in six decades while foreign export demand boomed.
At the Dahl's Foods supermarket in Des Moines, meat director Mike Hoffman showed smaller, cheaper cuts of beef selling for less than $4 per package. Those "will keep customers' taste for beef alive," he said.
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