Diesel Costs and Cattle Shortage Drive Up Beef Prices

Beef prices are soaring due to a combination of factors including record-high diesel costs and a national cattle shortage. Paul Boulden, owner of Studley Farms in Hanover County, Virginia, says that feeder cattle have peaked at almost $5 per pound for steers weighing between 500-700 pounds.

According to Boulden, the increased cost of diesel is affecting every aspect of farming, from equipment maintenance to transportation. 'Whether it's moving equipment, building fences, baling hay, seeding fields for grain, your soybeans, your corn, or the harvest of those things, that higher fuel cost is consumption,' he said.

The national cattle shortage has been ongoing for at least five years, and Boulden notes that farmers are struggling to afford replacement stock. This, combined with rising costs for hay, fencing, labor, and maintenance, is driving up beef prices to their highest level since 1984, when the Department of Labor began tracking them.