Why the U.S. cattle herd is at a 75-year low

(text.npr.org)

11 points | by mooreds 14 hours ago ago

6 comments

  • mannyv 9 hours ago ago

    The article buries something interesting at the bottom:

    "Herd size is down, but U.S. beef production is steady"

    So the author talks about all this stuff, but probably the three big cost drivers are:

    1. Input costs are higher

    2. Possible price fixing by meatpackers

    3. Lack of Mexican imports due to screwworm. Although it sounds like Mexican imports would increase the herd size, not the amount of beef on the market.

    Not sure why people haven't been importing more beef. The article mentions tariff cuts for Argentina, but there are other places that export beef. Possibly the market is tight all over the world?

  • Isamu 13 hours ago ago

    Wow, such a great text only page with news reporting, I thought these were extinct!

  • qsxfthnkp2322 6 hours ago ago

    Just like eggs. If you artificially cut supply then you can charge more.

  • faangguyindia 12 hours ago ago

    Sometimes back I heard many regions in US are suffering from draught like conditions. Could that be the reason?

    • hoppyhoppy2 11 hours ago ago

      Drought is one of the reasons mentioned in the third paragraph of the article.

  • aaron695 13 hours ago ago

    [dead]