Beef Reaches Highest Price in Nearly Three Decades
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Beef prices hit the highest they have been in almost three decades. “If you’re selling it’s good,” Jimmy Stanford said, a farmer. “If you’re buying it’s bad.” Stanford owns a cattle farm in Madison County. “I’ve never seen beef prices this high,” Stanford said. The average cost of retail fresh beef hit $5.28 a pound in February. Prices have not been this high since 1987. “It’s just not as many animals out there now as there used to be,” Stanford said. Stanford blames part of it on demand. “We’re eating a lot of beef and I don’t know how long it’s gone go before we back off and quit eating beef,” Stanford said. Consumers say they have noticed the increase at the grocery store. “It makes it hard to feed your family,” Beth Scarbrough, a shopper, said. “Everything’s going up. Beef’s really gone high. You know it just makes it hard on people.” Scarbrough has two kids to feed. She tries to buy turkey. “Beef, it you just can’t afford it,” Scarbrough said. “It’s too high.” Others do not mind paying extra. “It doesn’t make a difference to me, $5 or $10 extra,” Denetra Hicks said, a shopper. “It’s not a big difference because it’s good meat.” Stanford does not expect prices to drop anytime soon. “I wish I had a crystal ball and could tell,” he said. Stanford says once a calf is born it takes 14 to 16 months before the meat can be sold in grocery stores.
