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Beef supplies expected to tighten further

The CEO of CattleFax says tighter beef supplies are coming.  

Randy Blach tells Brownfield he expects January of 2024 will be the low in beef cow numbers.  “The low in beef production probably will not occur until 2025 or 2026,” he says.  Blach says he estimates a 4 to 5 percent decline in beef production in 2024 and another 3 percent reduction in 2025.  

He says that will push beef prices higher.  “And consumers will not have as much of the high-quality beef products available to them as what they’ve been used to over the last 3 or 4 years,” he says.  “We’ll see a little bit of a demand erosion as the industry moves forward.”

Blach says there has been very little impact to demand, even as beef prices have risen.  “However, there’s been a little less beef featuring at retail,” he says.  “That would typically be the case where retail margins have narrowed significantly.”

Blach says as prices go up, beef will likely see increased competition from other proteins at the grocery store. 

AUDIO: Randy Blach, CEO, CattleFax