ATLANTIC, Iowa (KMTV) — Livestock auction day at the Cass County fair seemed like a good time to talk to beef producers about the high cost of beef and how it's affecting them.
- Producers say, there aren't enough cows having babies in the U.S. and it will take time to get those numbers up.
- "Everything we do costs more. We're in an inflationary environment, so beef is naturally going to cost more," said Zak Kennedy, owner of Kennedy Cattle Company.
- "Feeding cattle is a lot like the stock market. You're supposed to buy low and sell high," Ag producer Alan Zellmer said. Feed lot owners are currently buying high and hoping they can sell higher.
WATCH KATRINA'S STORY BELOW
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It's the livestock auction day at the Cass County Fair in Atlantic. I'm Southwest Iowa Neighborhood Reporter Katrina Markel and I'm here to talk to cattle producers about how high beef prices are affecting them.
Zak Kennedy: "The biggest factor when it gets down to it is there's just a lack of beef cows in this country anymore."
Kennedy runs the Kennedy Cattle Company with his brother.
"Everything we do costs more. We're in an inflationary environment, so beef is naturally going to cost more," he said.
That's true even at the fair concession stand.
"We did have to raise prices on the ribeye steak sandwich and our all-beef hot dogs this year," said Atlantic FFA Advisor Eric Miller.
Katrina Markel: "This is what I've been waiting for all morning: the cattle auction. It's where the beef begins the journey to our plates"
Alan Zellmer: "These are numbers we've never seen before."
Zellmer manages a farming operation with his family. He says the cost of replacing cattle on his feedlot has risen from around $500 dollars per head to roughly $2,000.
"Right now, with the costs of what the feeders are, it's a very dangerous game to get in," he said.
"The replacements are costing so much so our margin is actually shrinking even though the dollars are actually very high," said Kennedy.
"Feeding cattle is a lot like the stock market. You're supposed to buy low and sell high," Zellmer said.
Right now, they're buying high and hoping to sell higher. So, there's risk for independent producers and only four companies that dominate the packing industry.
"I wish, if we could get anything, we could get more, multiple buyers involved," Zellmer said,
He told me he believes more competition in the packing industry would be better for producers and consumers.
"When are people going to say 'that's enough' and 'I can't afford it, so I'll buy another product?'" added Zellmer.
Unlike chicken, it's a matter of years and not months before the cattle makes its way to market and that means, for the foreseeable future, we're looking at higher beef prices.
