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Have a cow!!!!
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Have a Cow! PDF Print E-mail
Written by The Home Economist   
Thursday, 25 February 2010 02:13

At least these days, low costs are making milk and meat easier to digest.

The government's latest report on consumer prices proves rising costs are not our biggest problem. "Hooray," say economists everywhere. But let's remember that -- at least when it comes to today's friendlier milk and meat prices -- it's not any brilliant economic policy we're cheering.

That's because costs for edible cow products have been falling since even before the recession started, says Ken Matthews, an economist at the U.S.D.A's economic research service. (Click here about the economists' shopping trip to find this out....) Back then, there were so few cattle that each time a farmer would cut one, it would fetch piles of cash. So farmers decided to do a better job breeding their herds. As the cow population grew, prices for their flesh began relaxing, says Matthews.

Milk prices followed suit, but don't expect these low prices to last, warns Matthews. Farmers have "been killing cows in part to get the price of milk up," he says.

And the fate of those former heifers, of course, is to become hamburger, which brings us now to today's low prices for ground beef....

 

Consumer Prices           Price Increase from 2009 to 2010
For all everything in the economy2.6 percent
Uncooked ground beef-5.4 percent
Uncooked beef roasts-4.1 percent
Uncooked beef steaks -4.0 percent
Fresh whole milk -8.6 percent
Cheese and related products -6.9 percent
Ice cream-1.4 percent
 

 

 

 

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Last Updated on Thursday, 08 April 2010 17:36