Why Is Beef So Expensive Right Now?: Supply Lines

If you’ve bought beef lately, you’ve felt it: Prices are more expensive than ever. The average cost for ground beef — typically the cheapest option in the meat case — is now averaging a record nearly $7 a pound.

The basic reason is straightforward enough. The US cattle herd is the smallest it’s been in decades, squeezed by drought and high feed costs. Demand for beef, meanwhile, has held up.

That hasn’t stopped the fingerpointing, though, with politicians making the protein a key issue ahead of midterm elections. Top Trump administration officials on Monday laid a large part of ...