Beef, Pork And Shrimp Prices Soar To Record Highs

[Donger]

We previously noted that both beef and pork (courtesy of the affectionately named Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus) prices have been reaching new all time highs on an almost daily basis. It is time to update the chart.



... pork



... and shrimp.



Prices for shrimp have jumped to a 14-year high in recent months, spurred by a disease that’s ravaging the crustacean’s population. At Noodles & Co., a chain with locations across the country, it costs 29 percent more to add the shellfish to pastas this year, and shrimp-heavy dishes at places like the Cheesecake Factory Inc. are going up as well.

Restaurant chains, already struggling with shaky U.S. consumer confidence, are taking a profit hit as prices climb. Even worse, the surge is happening during the season of Lent, when eateries rely on seafood to lure Christian diners who abstain from chicken, beef and pork on certain days.

“It’s coming at a tough time for the industry,” said Andrew Barish, a San Francisco-based analyst at Jefferies LLC. “With the Lenten season, what you’ll see out there is a lot of promotions with seafood, and usually shrimp is a big part of that.”

[htismaqe]

Do shrimp produce methane gas as part of the digestive process?

Hopefully they're not going to get the additional tax like beef and pork.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Fairplay

The goverment wants us all to be vegetarians.

They're confiscating livestock. They want to make food a single-payee system.

[HonestChieffan]

700 pound steers and heifers are at all time highs. So is fertlizer, land, rent ? Barbed wire t posts, and mineral. Get ready. You are just seein the tip of the food price spike. Good thing its not in inflation calculation.

[Buehler445]

Not sure where you're getting your numbers but front month live cattle are 145.750/100 weight as of 15 minutes ago.

[HonestChieffan]

Medium to 1 grade 605 to 644 pound steers brought $207 this week in Butler Mo. We have been seeing premiums paid at Ft Scott for slick 6-700 pounders up to 800. One lot of 45 averaged $ 1662 a head. Cool app to track cattle prices in usda reporting sale barns is cattlemarketmobile.com.

[HonestChieffan]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Not sure where you're getting your numbers but front month live cattle are 145.750/100 weight as of 15 minutes ago.

Thats fat cattle. Im talking off the farm weaned cattle under. 800 pounds

[Frosty]

Actually, with all these high meat prices, what this really means is:

[jiveturkey]

I've been buying a quarter from a local rancher and luckily his prices haven't changed in the last 3 years. Maybe next year will be different.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by HonestChieffan

Thats fat cattle. Im talking off the farm weaned cattle under. 800 pounds

Not you, I meant Dongers OP.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Not you, I meant Dongers OP.

Sorry, I thought I linked it:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...prices-explode

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by HonestChieffan

700 pound steers and heifers are at all time highs. So is fertlizer, land, rent ? Barbed wire t posts, and mineral. Get ready. You are just seein the tip of the food price spike. Good thing its not in inflation calculation.

I've said it before and I will say it again, the market gives 0 shits about the profitability of the producer.

Just because costs go up, doesn't mean prices in the store go up. The only two that are tied together are feeders and fats.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Donger

Sorry, I thought I linked it:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...prices-explode

Again, I don't know WTF data he's using. Live Cattle are 145.75 per 100 weight.

That may be carcass weight? Retail info? I don't know. Either way, the LC chart is dramatically more volatile. Still new all time highs, that's not wrong, but the prices sure as **** aren't what's being traded at CME.

[petegz28]

It's a good thing we have Wall St. telling us that there isn't any inflation. I mean as long as you exclude food and gas.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by petegz28

It's a good think we have Wall St. telling us that there isn't any inflation. I mean as long as you exclude food and gas.

I actually went to a meeting where a member of the KC FED was the speaker. He said no inflation, someone called BS on food, fuel, etc.

His response? Excluded. Too volatile. Screws up the numbers.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

I actually went to a meeting where a member of the KC FED was the speaker. He said no inflation, someone called BS on food, fuel, etc.

His response? Excluded. Too volatile. Screws up the numbers.

That's exactly right. Wall St. loves to exclude food and energy for that very reason. Never mind that food and energy are things everyone uses regardless of who they are.

That's why we are getting hosed right now because the Fed Reserve is focused on the wrong things and it's policies have consequences regardless of how much some on here want to defend them.