Americans Pay $6.75 Ground Beef as Demand Holds Near Record Steak Prices

3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Jul 2

$6.75-a-pound ground beef and $12.80 steak kept U.S. beef prices near record levels in May, yet shoppers are still buying heavily ahead of July 4 grilling.
The squeeze traces to the smallest U.S. cattle herd in decades after drought, high feed costs and herd liquidation cut supply and pushed cattle prices through to stores and menus.
Demand has stayed resilient because many consumers treat steak as an affordable luxury, favoring premium attributes such as USDA Prime, grass-fed and no antibiotics over simply choosing the cheapest protein.
NielsenIQ said beef posted the biggest pre-Independence Day dollar-sales gain of any food category—up about $352 million from a year earlier—while Kroger, Omaha Steaks and LongHorn Steakhouse all reported strong steak demand.
Relief may be slow: rebuilding the cattle herd could lift supply and ease prices, but the process takes years without more imported beef.