High beef prices hitting consumers as meatpacking giant warns of supply struggles

American consumers are continuing to face elevated beef prices amid an ongoing cattle shortage, which is also hitting the bottom line of major meatpacking companies.

The U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest level in over 70 years due to drought reducing forage areas in key ranching regions, which forced ranchers to liquidate cattle. 

Ranchers are also facing higher operating costs for feed, labor, fuel and equipment, while some live cattle imports have also been constrained due to concerns over diseases affecting livestock.

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Beef prices have risen 11.8% over the last year and increased 1.2% on a monthly basis in June, according to the most recent consumer price index (CPI) data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ground beef prices were up 12.4% from a year ago, while beef roasts were up 13.8% and steaks were up 11.4% in that period.

Tyson Foods noted the challenges in its beef business in its earnings call Monday, with CEO Donnie King saying, “Beef hasn’t performed the way we expected, and we’re not pretending otherwise.”

He noted the “well-documented challenges of the current cattle cycle” and said that Tyson’s beef segment operated at a loss of $138 million with sales volume down 15.9% and pricing up 12.1% as “constrained supply pushed input costs and pricing higher.”

The Tyson Foods CEO also discussed the recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that it will resume imports of cattle from Mexico starting in late August for the first time in more than a year.

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Cattle imports from Mexico were suspended due to an outbreak of the New World screwworm, which poses a threat to domestic livestock. USDA’s monitoring has noted 44 cases of New World screwworm in the U.S. since June, with cases concentrated in Texas and New Mexico.

The USDA’s resumption of imports will be flexible and will start at the Douglas, Arizona, port of entry after the neighboring Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua have been identified as the lowest-risk Mexican states for the New World screwworm.

The agency cited those Mexican states’ “strong, well-established inspection programs” and geographic distance from southern Mexico, where most of the cases have been concentrated.

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King said the “recent announcement of a phased reopening of the Mexican border for the importation of cattle shows potential improvements to long-term cattle availability.”

“Although the reopening won’t have a material impact on the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends in September, it does provide the potential for some level of improvement in 2027 and beyond,” King added. 

“To be clear, the reopening of the Mexican border will not solve the entire gap of beef losses we are currently seeing. We are not waiting passively for the cattle cycle to turn, and we continue to focus on improving the variables within our control.”