Last Bastion for Cheap Beef Fades in Latest Affordability Threat

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Bloomberg

December 29, 2025 at 7:00 AM EST


Cheap beef may soon become further out of reach. Brazil, one of the world’s few remaining sources of abundant cattle, is heading into a period of shrinking supplies that could push global prices higher.

For the past two years, a surge in Brazil’s beef production helped fuel a jump in exports. That’s as ample herds drove cattle prices lower compared to other regions, and ranchers were encouraged to send more animals to slaughter. At the same time, countries such as the US struggled with high food costs, and sought out sources of cheaper beef. That cycle is turning, with impacts that will ripple through global markets and hamper US President Donald Trump’s efforts to bring down beef prices.

Climbing prices for calves in Brazil are signaling the start of a new phase, in which ranchers start holding back female cattle to rebuild herds. The practice, known as heifer retention, reduces the number of animals sent to slaughter and marks the beginning of a tightening supply cycle.

“We are coming out of the phase of excess, and the phase of scarcity hasn’t even begun,” said César de Castro Alves, manager of agronomic consultancy at Itau BBA bank. Scarcity, he added, is likely to last a few years.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-29/last-bastion-for-cheap-beef-fades-in-latest-affordability-threat?srnd=homepage-americas

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[hunter]

1. That would be good news if they weren't ramping up to produce more.

Cheap beef and dairy products are not a necessity. Producing it is bad for the natural environment, bad for the workers, and bad for the cattle.

Producing beef humanely and in environmentally responsible ways, with good wages and strong labor laws, is expensive.

That's just the way it is.

[chouchou]

2. Cattle biology means it takes time -- often years -- to raise calves to market weight.

.
Drought in major cattle-producing regions (e.g., Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska) reduces pasture availability and increases feeding costs, leading ranchers to reduce herd sizes. CBS News

And Most of the problem LABOR SHORTAGES. Hell Yeah..Let's send ICE into areas where people work on-the-range
and packing houses. Oh Brother !...LET'S DO THAT DONALD TRUMP...YOU STUPID SON-OF-A-BITCH!

[Historic NY]

7. I've noticed few places now carry, serve or sell veal.

[walkingman]

3. Eat less beef....the planet and your health depend on it.

[William Seger]

4. Donald #rump's "efforts to bring down beef prices" are NON-EXISTENT if you don't count just lying...

... and dropping tariffs that HE put in place!

[Vinca]

5. After not eating much beef over the last couple of years, I've decided I like the taste of Impossible products better.

I did browse the standing rib roasts over the holidays since we usually splurge, but there's splurge and then there's SPLURGE. Didn't buy one.

[TexasBushwhacker]

6. Honestly, maybe it's okay

I say this as a fully committed carnivore and person with a low income. I don't think cheap beef (or any animal protein, for that matter) has done us any favors in our health as a country. I can't be vegetarian or vegan. Healthwise, it just doesn't work for me. But we can raise our animals more humanely and with less impact on the planet, and those are GOOD THINGS!

It's kind of like cheap gasoline. When the cost of gasoline goes down, the sales of gas guzzling vehicles goes UP. Investment and use of greener forms of energy goes down too.

[cstanleytech]

8. And like the ranches raising cattle here in the US they will probably keep the herds smaller to keep prices higher.