Louisiana loves beef, but the USDA’s 2023 Cattle Report predicts higher costs ahead for the popular protein. Cattle Producers of Louisiana CEO David Foster concurs with the USDA’s findings. He says the national herd is down over 39-million head from one year ago; the lowest it has been in many years…:
“All cattle and calves down 3-percent. Beef cows were down 4-percent and beef replacement heifers were down 6-percent.”
Foster says there are fewer beef cattle around, which drives up cost based on availability. What’s more, feed stock costs are also up sharply meaning less food in feeders to fatten up the livestock…:
“These feeders are not feeding the cattle longer, so they’re not feeding to the heavier weights, where we’ve got more pounds of beef available for the consumer.”
Foster says fewer and less hefty cows will mean less beef for the market, hence an increase in costs of – possibly – 10-percent or more. He says all this can, of course, be affected by consumer demand for beef…:
“If that consumer says ‘Nope. I’ve had enough. You’ve raised those prices too high. I can’t do it’ well then the retailer will have to decide to cut our profit margins a bit in order to get our customers back again.”
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