By Miguel Otarola | Colorado Hometown Weekly
The price of meat ahead of the Fourth of July weekend will be higher in Colorado supermarkets than in the rest of the country, according to an annual industry survey.
Produced by the American Farm Bureau Federation, an agriculture lobbying group, the survey found that ground beef and pork chops were more expensive — and chicken breasts were cheaper — in Colorado than in other states.
State and national economists attribute the surge in beef prices to fewer cows nationwide, a result of more than a decade of drought that has withered food supplies.
“When that number shrinks, you have less calves being born to go down the supply chain and prices rise,” said Nathan DeLay, assistant professor of livestock economics at Colorado State University.
Instead of paying for more water or feed, many ranchers choose to sell their cows for slaughter instead of breeding. The beef market phenomenon is likely to extend years as ranchers wait for heifers to mature into calf-breeding cows, DeLay said.
Drought exacerbated by climate change in recent years has led many cattle ranchers to thin the size of their herds, nowhere more so than in Colorado. The state’s beef cow population dropped by nearly 50,000 heads or 8% last year. It was the steepest loss in the country, according to an annual inventory report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Nationwide, the beef cow population has dropped to its lowest point since the early 1960s, DeLay said. Meanwhile, demand for beef products like steak and hamburgers remains robust.
“The consumer still wants beef,” said DeLay, curious to see what grocery shoppers buy this week for the festivities.
Nebraska, South Dakota and California all lost 40,000 or more cows last year, according to the USDA report. Some states expanded their numbers, including Texas, by more than 60,000 head.
The price of two pounds of ground beef in Colorado was $14.41, a dollar more than the national average, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation market snapshot. Pork chops were even more expensive: Three pounds were $18.33, more than four dollars higher than the rest of the country.
Potato chips, ice cream, potato salad and strawberries were also pricier in Colorado, according to the survey. Other Independence Day backyard staples, like hamburger buns, cheese, lemonade and pork and beans, were cheaper in Colorado than elsewhere.