Beef consumption declining

A report from the National Cattlemen’s Association in the United States predicts per capita consumption will fall to its lowest level since 2016.

There simply won’t be as much beef in supermarket counters this year because farmers and ranchers culled their herds last year and fewer will be available for slaughter this year and probably for the next several years.

Per capita beef consumption was in steady decline in the U.S. since 2002 when it was 68 pounds. It hit bottom at 54 pounds in 2014 and 2015 and last year, when culling was underway, increased to 59 pounds per person.

Last year beef prices came down by 3.1 per cent in the U.S., but chicken prices increased by 12.2 per cent and pork by 1.5 per cent.

Americans still love beef. Forty-seven per cent told the association’s surveyors that it’s their preferred meat. Forty-one per cent prefer chicken, only four per cent prefer pork and that's half as many as those who prefer alternatives to meat.