High meat prices are squeezing household budgets and sending shoppers on a search for lower-cost alternatives.
A recent sale on hamburger created a line six deep at Liberty’s Woodruff’s Supermarket.
Jack Radford, owner of Radford’s Meat Market and Deli in Richmond, said prices for all meats have increased, but beef has made the biggest jump.
“I’ve never seen meat prices this high,” said Radford, who began his 40-year career as a butcher at Ford’s Market in Centerville. “It’s hurting everyone. I was just told ham prices at Christmas will be up a dollar a pound more than last year’s price.
“It’s tough when you depend on meat for your main business. Wages in this town haven’t increased, so it’s tough on everybody.”
Ohio State Extension beef expert John Grimes said consumers aren’t likely to see any relief soon from the record beef prices. Widespread drought in 2012 caused many beef producers to sell breeding stock because they lacked the grain and forage to feed them.
“The beef industry is currently undergoing some of the most unique economic conditions in our history,” Grimes said. “It can best be described as a perfect storm. We have the smallest beef cow herd in decades, currently under 30 million cows. That’s an 11.8 percent decline from 2007, plus the tighter supplies of pork and poultry, which are the main competitors.”