and bought a package of baby back ribs. They had gone up around $10 or so from the last package and I remarked on the fact to Michael, my son. He replied that all meat had gone up recently like I was not aware of the fact.

I said that the price of meat hadn't gone up but that the value of the dollar had gone down. This prompted him to say that inflation had nothing to do with the recent increase in the price of meat and that if it was caused by inflation everything would have gone up.

I'd never really thought of it in that light and realized that many items have gone down in cost such as, computers, TV's just to name a couple.

Not being an economist I couldn't really offer a differing opinion in rebuttal but thought I'd throw this out before the panel at the fire. Was he correct in his statement? I didn't ask him what he thought caused the increase in meat prices but we all know that beef has gone up sharply in the past few months and now I see the increase in pork and chicken.

Will this affect prices at Norm Peterson's favorite eatery, The Hungry Heifer?

IMHO, one thing that greatly influences grocery and meat prices is the cost of fuel.

When you have used FOOD IE Corn, to make fuel instead of FOOD(beef) then things go up.

And the fuel use of corn is such a joke....

Add to that everything used in beef, or pork etc... has gone up... fuel costs, fertilizer etc... that is used one way or another in feeding the animals out, it makes sense why meat is up.

Drought has an effect too.... many folks around here had to sell out or drastically lower herd numbers in the last 3-4 years. And then things like cows, went up in price and you couldn't afford to stock back up... hence a shortage in markets.

At least thats my non educated guess.

Yes inflation is in play.

With regard to meat prices, there are a number of factors: record low inventories of beef cattle, increased prices for inputs (fuel etc.), high grain prices for the past few years (some of this is inflation and some as a result of basic economic forces), a deadly virus is hitting the pork industry that is greatly decreasing supply. On top of this is the diminished buying power of the US$.

There was a virus making the rounds that was killing large numbers of piglets this Spring and Summer. Pork prices were expected to go up because of this...

Ask him if the increasing price of meat is caused by inflation or causes inflation.

Inflation = too many dollars chasing too few goods

We do have inflation. FOOD has gone up. My wife keeps all our receipts. She compared the items we bought a year ago to today. It is around 13%. OR, the items are smaller, by a few ounces, or like toilet paper about 1/2" more narrow rolls for the same brand. The reason TV's and electronics aren't higher is they are all made overseas with CHEAP labor. Automobile prices are higher also if you keep up with new car prices. The feds do not use groceries and gasoline in their inflation figures like they did 30 or so years ago. They say it is too "volatile" and changes too much. However people have to eat and drive every day. They don't buy a new home every day. Obama can't change reality, so he changes they way they figure stuff.

Meat is higher also because of the government mandating 10% ethynol (made from feed corn) in gasoline. This causes cattle, chicken, and pork feed to increase in price resulting in meat at a higher price. Also, hogs have been getting some type of disease that is killing them or if they have it, they can't be put on the market. In my opinion, smaller farms resulted in a more healthy food supply and if one farmer was hurt, it didn't hurt everyone. Now you have huge hog farms, large cattle ranches, chickens raised in houses and never see the outside world. So if a chicken gets sick, they sicken thousands.

Reagan said government is not the solution, government is the problem.

I know it's not inflation because my COLA raise was 1%. Along with the viruses and such going around, fuel prices while lower now than earlier this year and I believe drought conditions will cause price increases in food.
What gets me is if fuel dropped to $1 a gallon and all pigs and chickens healed over night we would not see the same drop as rise in prices.

yep. i read about that this past spring and promptly went to Sams and bought a case of BB's. i think they were $2.38/lb. i'll be smoking the last 3 racks on saturday along with one of the the Easter hams i bought for .79/pound in march. mmmm, mmmm good.

The high grain prices and short supply of cattle and hogs for market are/were greatly affected by the droughts that have/are sprinkled (pun intended) around the country over the last few years. Diseases haven't helped either. Fuel prices have affected ALL goods, food and non-food alike . . . A sign of the times?

Corn is cheaper now than in the 70's . Come on people hit google before blaming feed costs.All time low cattle numbers has a lot to do with it.
At current grain prices for wheat i have to beat the county average by about 10 bushels to the acre to break even. Yes it can be done but betting against averages generally you lose. ED K

There is a hell of a lot of people eating chops and steaks these days as well.

While some bemoan the "loss of the middle class", hoards of baby momma's are buying choice cuts of meat with our money.

Not to mention that a recent study that came out saying Gasohol is more harmful to the Environment than Unleaded Gas ever was.....

Wish I has saved the link that referenced the study.

Makes sense as I have to burn more to go the same distance due to a loss in MPG.

Boston butts at Sam's Club on 1/15/14 were $1.39 per pound by the case. On 8/9/14 they were $2.13 per pound by the case.

Madmooner- I agree on the ebt cardholders and spending. If it was out of their pocket it would be burger and hot dogs. Just look at the carts at Walmart and anybody can figure that out. ED K

You are right that grain prices have dropped which is why I wrote:



High grain prices the past few years impacted the management of livestock herds that we are still seeing today.

No kidding!

My take on grain prices is that the previous drought that resulted in the higher prices.Since there was a great crop last year with this year being a record crop is why prices are down. They are still making ethanol(which i believe is dumb) but the price here for corn is only about 2.00 per bushel. ED K

Under Clinton the cost of food and energy were removed from the inflation index.The CME makes money if the price of commodites goe up or down. We have record late planting and a cooler than normal summer. You can drive by a field antell me whata great crop we have coming , tell me when it is in the bin. We have shOTTAGES OF BEEF AND PORK FOR ALL THE AFOREMENTIONED REASONS





The crop is not in the bin, tell me aboutb a bumper crop after the harvest.

Among all the things mentioned, you have to remember that people need food. You don't necessarily need electronics. So it's in electronics manufacturers best interests to keep the price affordable. And there's probably more competition involved.

Why, then, are people spending $12K on UTV"S - and bitching about food prices.
The "play" sector is where you will get rich - not the "necessity" sector. (FACT)

The last two years corn was at all time high levels. This year it has dropped to a bit below the long term average. Since I farm I don't have to google prices for grain.

WITNESS- I sure hope i can report a record harvest in the bin.LOL right now ours is ripening and looks really good. About a week away from any harvesting yet. We have been lucky up here in N.Dak. and missed the droughts. ED K

Corn harvest is under way here in Arkansas and we will soon know how good it is. My Brother in law raises a lot of corn and is worried that his yield will be way down due to wind damage during the growing season. Lots of broken off stalks. miles

Maybe what your son meant was that meat has gone up at a rate faster than normal inflation due to factors such as weather, fuel, feed cost, etc bearing on the market. Yes, there is inflation. The Fed uses different formulas to calculate it now and fuel and food prices (how come?) are not in the equation any more.