Beef cattle supply has dropped to its lowest pont in decades, raising the price of beef to another all-time high and renewing concerns over the long-term health of the nation’s farming community.
A series of severe droughts that have shocked the supply chain coupled with government policies that continue to tilt the playing field toward large, industrial food processors have plummeted the nation’s supply of beef cattle to a level not seen since the early 1950s, according to Justin Tupper, president of the United States Cattlemen’s Association.
The shortage of precipitation has led to a lack of available pastures for grazing, wreaking havoc on the livestock supply, according to Mr. Tupper.
“The cows need to graze to be able to flourish, and these drought conditions have absolutely crippled the supply,” said Mr. Tupper. “Raising cattle is a complicated process where a lot of things have to go right. If just one factor is off, it can have a devastating effect on the cattle.”
John Boyd, Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association, called the resulting loss of cattle a “national crisis.”
“We already are seeing such a steep hike [of] beef [prices] in this country. And it’s because we’re not supporting these cattlemen, such as myself,” Mr. Boyd said on “Fox & Friends First.”
“The Biden administration isn’t paying attention [to] this national crisis. This is a national crisis for America’s cattlemen, and this administration has turned a blind and a deaf ear to something that needs immediate attention.
“Americans are going to pay the price at their local grocery stores,” Mr. Boyd said.
‘We Are Losing Cow Herds Every Day’
Further exacerbating the shortage, increasing acres of cattle farms are being purchased by larger companies that, after acquiring them, often use them for alternative purposes, further decimating the supply of available beef.“We are losing cow herds every day, and the one thing they aren’t making any more of is land,” said Mr. Tupper.
Mr. Gates, an investor in Upside Foods, one of the two synthetic meat producers approved by the USDA, has been vocal about his belief that meat alternatives are needed to save the world from upcoming catastrophic climate events caused by greenhouse gasses.
In a 2021 interview with Technology Review, Mr. Gates said that all well-off nations need to switch to be completely weaned off of living, breathing cows.
“All rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef. You can get used to the taste difference, and the claim is they’re going to make it taste even better over time,” Mr. Gates told the interviewer.
“Eventually that green premium is modest enough that you can sort of change the people or use regulation to totally shift demand. So for meat in the middle-income-and-above countries, I do think it’s possible,” he added.
However, beef cattle production constitutes a small fraction of the gasses that many environmentalists claim have had a negative impact on the planet. Just 2 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from beef cattle production, while energy production and transportation produce a combined 54 percent of emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Government policies have also been a contributing factor to the dwindling supply. A USDA proposal would mandate electronic ear tags for cattle and bison crossing state lines, placing unnecessary and punitive costs on American ranchers while also further raising the price of beef, according to Mr. Tupper.
“We already have effective disease trackability on every cow,” said Mr. Tupper. “This is a massive overreach of the government that would push out the small guy and incentivize the large producer.
“We need support, not more obstacles,” he added.
However, despite the recent setbacks, there remains room for optimism, according to Mr. Tupper, who cited steady demand for beef despite record-high prices.
“I think we are going to see the cow herd rebuild over the next two to three years,” said Mr. Tupper. “People still want beef, and as prices continue to rise, the economic incentive will continue to be a big driver.
“We have also seen the carnivore diet the largest it’s ever been as people are seeing the benefits of eating meat and cutting out all of the processed foods,” he added.
