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Smallest Cattle Herd May Raise Beef Prices

By Rachel Ousley

Story Created: Jan 31, 2012 at 10:28 PM MDT

Story Updated: Jan 31, 2012 at 10:29 PM MDT

The Agriculture Department recently reported the US cattle herd is the smallest it has been in sixty years. This could send beef prices much higher.

The New Year began with 91 million head of cattle across the country. That is down two percent from last year. Retail beef prices are already at record highs and may continue to increase. Severe drought in the south forced many ranchers to thin their herds because they didn't have enough grass and water. However, low numbers are not the only thing driving up beef prices.

Julie Meyer Garrity is the owner of Cattlemen’s Cut Supper Club in Great Falls. She says, “from the time its born to the time it comes to the stock yard to be sold to a buyer and then put on a truck and shipped out of state and then fed out and then processed and brought back into the state, all this effects the price of beef”. Every time a cow changes hands, a price tag is tacked on to cover expenses like transportation.

Many restaurants have to absorb this cost because it is not practical to change their menu more than once or twice a year. ABC 5 will take a closer look at this issue tomorrow night.

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