Beef prices going up????

[KDM]

why is pork so cheap? and beef so expensive?

My cynical mind says because the corporations have pork in a choke hold whereas beef still has private producers hanging on giving big corporate the middle finger. My not so cynical mind says because of simple supply and demand. We have the same number of cows today that we had 70 years ago. 2024 saw over 4 billion lbs of beef imported. Lots of people looking for hamburger.

 

[Rowdie]

 

[Rowdie]

 

[lunkerslayer]

One thing about pork is less wast per pound then cattle, more offspring in a typical year, takes less resources to raise pigs because of a controlled environment. A sow can get pregnant 2 or 3 times a year which can be as many as 6 to 8 avg per litter but can have as many as 16. And a feeder pig is only 4 to 6 months till its ready to butcher, compared to 14 to 24 months for cattle

 

[Pheasant 54]

Very true for all the old guys on here like me . remember when you didn't eat beef , they were a cash crop basically . We ate pork and chickens , cant tell you how many times my Grandma had me run down a couple chickens in the early afternoon for supper that night . We started butchering beef in the late 60's