Ranchers in East Texas say beef prices are not expected to go down anytime soon

BULLARD, Texas (KETK) — Beef prices are taking a hit in Texas, especially after the U.S. Department of Agriculture said cattle herd sizes are at all time low.

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“We had the fewest number of beef cows in the U.S. since 1961,” David Anderson, extension economist at Texas A&M AgriLife, said.

Anderson said during the summer of 2022, ranchers began selling off their herds by the dozens due to drought causing the upkeep of cattle to be almost financially impossible.

“If we look at 2022 in the U.S., that was our record high all-time beef production,” said Anderson.

In 2022, KETK spoke with Hood Family Farms, one of the cattle ranches affected. Their grass was dead, water was drying up and the heat was hard for the herd to handle. The ranch ended up selling 50% of their herd.

“Record numbers of small farms have closed because the cost of maintaining the farm has just outpaced the profitability,” Sara Youmans, co-owner of Hood Family Farms, said.

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KETK News has been following the impact on ranchers since the beginning, and in a special report from 2023, we spoke to a rancher who was able to keep his herd size the same by the way he bred his heifers.

“We didn’t sell one head last year at all and part of that is due to our heat tolerance influence we brought in,” Karson Beavers, owner of Tri-Vita Cattle Company, said.

Anderson said the bad news is prices won’t be declining any time soon due to the lack of cattle.

“The way I might think about it is kind of the pressure is on for higher prices simply because we’re going to produce less beef,” said Anderson.

Anderson said it won’t be a quick fix and consumers will continue to feel the impact for a few more years.

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