Kay, S. (2024, January 17). US beef industry may see more red ink in 2024. Food Business News. https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/25375-us-beef-industry-may-see-more-red-ink-in-2024#:~:text=The%20US%20Department%20of%20Agriculture’s,28.291%20billion%20lbs%20in%202022.
The US beef industry is currently in a 2-year decline as beef production has decreased. This has resulted in many challenges for all. Consumers are more likely to face higher prices while beef processors may struggle to make profits. Cattle feeders are also expected to face higher prices for live cattle due to a decrease in the supply of said. The decrease in beef production is a result of continued herd reduction by cow producers which pose a continued challenge for 2024 to come. Overall, this situation has made it hard for meat production related companies to make a profit.
This article makes me wonder what other factors are being affected by this decrease in cattle. Can we see a change in the amount of methane released by the US? Will people switch to other forms of meat as beef becomes pricier? What are the repercussions of this health and environment wise? I think that this may be a good thing as we will see a switch towards lab-grown beef which is more economically and environmentally friendly.
I found this article and analysis very interesting. I think while this is harming our economy, it is making customers shift away from beef as of now, which as you said might be a good thing as it is more economically and environmentally friendly. Eventually, cattle feeders, cow producers, and beef processors can also switch their main industry away from beef. This could make us start eating foods that produce less carbon footprint than beef. I think one reason people eat less beef is that there are more non-beef alternatives that actually taste like beef available nowadays. Also, people are more educated and limit their meat consumption more for the environment and their own health. Do you think people are also replacing beef with other types of animal meat? What would be good ones for carbon footprint? lamb? goat? chicken?
I think that this can be both a good and bad issue. I think that the bad that comes with it is overall the prices everywhere are going to raise and the quantity is going to fall. But I also think that this can be a good thing given that we know the overall raising of cattle can effect climate change and it also gives an incentive to some to maybe eat healthier if they cant afford it. How dramatic are these new changes? Can they affect the economy as well?