Cheap Beef Is Here for Summer Burgers and $1 Taco Bell Burritos

[Purveyor]

Vegetarians aside, who doesn’t like cheap burgers?

Americans celebrating Memorial Day this weekend -- the unofficial kick-off to summer and the grilling season -- have one more windfall coming their way: the cheapest retail prices for ground beef in two years.



Bumper grains crops have reduced costs to feed animals, and cattle ranchers have been expanding their herds. That’s good news for consumers who will see beef prices drop as much as 2 percent this year as annual production increases for the first time since 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts. Hedge funds are betting that the lure of low-cost meat will help stimulate demand and help cattle futures to rebound.

“We’re absolutely at what could be the peak usage season of the year,” said Don Close, Rabobank International’s St. Louis-based vice president of food and agribusiness research for animal protein. “This year has been somewhat frustrating just with so much rainy, cold weather, particularly through that East Coast corridor. Expectations are there’s a lot of pent-up demand there, once that summer weather actually comes to bear.”
Grilling Staples

After the Fourth of July, Memorial Day is tied with Labor Day for the most popular occasion for barbecuing, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association. More than 60 percent of grill owners will fire it up this weekend, the group estimates. Adding to the excuses to celebrate, it’s more than burgers that have gotten cheaper. An index of seven party staples that includes ice cream and potato chips is at the lowest level since August, according to retail prices compiled by Bloomberg. The measure is down 1.4 percent from this time last year.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-22/cheap-beef-is-here-for-summer-burgers-and-1-taco-bell-burritos

Our local Meijers is selling choice ground chuck for $1.99 this week. Lowest I've seen in years...

[hobbit709]

1. Of course the all natural, hormone and antibiotic free, grass fed beef I buy is a little more.

[FLPanhandle]

5. +1

But worth every penny!

[Demonaut]

13. I look beef that was someones pet cow, you know it's been well taken care of

[Throd]

2. I'm not seeing it in California.

Beef seems more expensive than ever right now.

[grasswire]

3. are we sure it's not coming from China?

Good thing I rarely eat red meat. I would be suspicious.

[villager]

4. Well, "the Earth" isn't exactly fond of "cheap" beef, either.

Given how the real costs are, of course, externalized.

[Amishman]

15. You externalize the costs, I'll internalize the burgers!

I know beef is not the most environmentally friendly diet staple, but I'd rather focus on improving other areas of environmental impact first (reducing fossil fuels, enhanced recycling, etc).

Cows are just too tasty for me to complain

[villager]

16. Of course you will!

Why should you be any less solipsistic than any other human being?

[Major Nikon]

18. ...

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. i just scored a vintage meat grinder for $5...

Perfect time to try it out!

[Purveyor]

8. Nothing better than fresh ground meat and you know what is in it. eom

[Dem2]

7. I do like it but I can't eat it

Gout blows.

[liberaltrucker]

9. Scored some porterhouse for $6.99/pound over the weekend

True, it was on sale, but still....

[MrScorpio]

10. I've skipped out on beef going on nearly 25 years

I guess that's more left over for the beef eaters.

[GreatGazoo]

11. Socialized food production, socialism.

The taxpayer subsidizes the entire beef industry starting with corn production. Over $8 billion in corn subsidies for 2015.

Bumper crop means the price of the corn falls below the cost of producing it (with Monsanto seed and chems) and the taxpayer kicks in the difference.

[Demonaut]

12. as much as 2%?...woohoo?!??....this is something worthy of an article?

[silvershadow]

14. I don't buy much meat anymore, since I don't know where it comes from. nt

[NickB79]

17. Fuck the climate, animal welfare, our waistlines and our hearts, we loves our cheap beef!

It destroys the planet, tortures cows in factory farms, makes us obese and eventually kills us, but who cares?

Realistically, beef would be $10/lb if all the true costs of producing it were taken into consideration. Meat shouldn't be a main dish; it should be a side dish. Anyone remember how the recommended serving of meat is supposed to be the size of a deck of playing cards? The only thing that makes it as cheap as it is in the US is the massive amount of subsidies we chuck at Big Ag to produce all the cheap corn and soy for those factory farms.

It's funny how so many people claim they want us to end corporate welfare, then turn a blind eye towards things like this.