Beef Prices Put a Crimp in Idaho Wallets

News media finally caught up with beef prices.  Maybe it’s because reporters are all vegans, but I’ve seen a series of stories this week about the cost of beef.  The ground variety has seen an increase of 50 percent over the last couple of years.

It's Becoming a Luxury in Some Homes

While I don’t eat beef every day, and I surely don’t eat steak every day, hamburgers are probably what I most consume, and always have.  For families, ground beef is a staple of the table because it has a variety of uses beyond burgers.  As a kid, I liked it mixed into layers of lasagna.

Why the spike in prices?  Tariffs get some of the blame.  We’re seeing less imported beef.  Which is good for domestic producers.  But the size of the herd is an ongoing issue.  It’s the smallest since 1961!  One writer even said it could be another five years before we see a recovery.

Some are Looking to Fill the Void

I do know that there are some efforts at production in places where it was rare.  I grew up in a part of the country where dairy was the cornerstone of the economy.  Many of those old family farms, the ones remaining, have made the switch to beef cattle.  A friend on a dairy told me that from his view, it’s less time-consuming, and he doesn’t have the same labor demands.  In other words, it helps cope with a dearth of farm labor, which he’s noticed for more than 30 years.

But I have a theory of my own.  The globalists and environmentalists have long wanted us to give up beef consumption.  They have levers behind the scenes that they control, and I’m sure they’re working to slowly remove it from our cultural taste.