R-CALF: Why Aren’t Beef Prices Following Cattle Prices

A bipartisan effort is underway in Washington D.C. to manage what some have called a food crisis when it comes to the prices livestock producers receive. R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said consumers are paying rapidly higher prices at the store, but cattle prices are collapsing.

“Beef prices should follow cattle prices and vice versa, but the opposite is happening. Beef prices are skyrocketing, cattle prices are declining bringing cattle producers to the verge of going broke and causing consumers to pay inflated prices for beef. The marketplace is broken and needs to be fixed immediately.”

A letter, led by Senators Mike Rounds and Tina Smith, is making the rounds in Washington D.C., encouraging lawmakers to sign on for immediate action. Bullard said if there isn’t a change, things are likely only going to get worse and could result in a lack of product on store shelves.

“We will hollow out rural America. We will reduce the food supply chain. We will put our food supply at risk. We will have a centralized food production system that American consumers will not like. We may well see a repeat of what we saw in March 2020.” 

In a press release about the letter, R-CALF says this is the most important push since 1921’s Packers and Stockyards Act.

Click Here to read the entire letter.

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