As U.S. cattle herd shrinks, meatpackers ‘are scrambling’
Drought and high feed costs have driven ranchers to send cattle to slaughter instead of keeping them for breeding, Reuters reports, shrinking the U.S. beef herd to its smallest size since 1962. As a result, meatpackers are paying considerably more for the cows they turn into meat, which cuts into their profits.
How to get higher-value meat? Cloned cattle are one way.
Researchers at West Texas A&M say they got consistently high-grading meat from calves that were the offspring of cloned cattle, says U.S. Farm Report. Seven of the calves were slaughtered as a test of the research project last month and one of the carcasses was graded Prime, a grade given to less than 5 percent of carcasses, three graded High Choice and three were Average Choice.
Forecast: First annual decline in beef prices since 2009
Americans faced relentlessly higher beef prices at the grocery store in 2014 and 2015 due to drought, tight supplies and high demand. Shoppers will get a break this year, with retail prices forecast to dip 1 percent, says the monthly Food Price Outlook.