Meat Prices On The Rise

In case you haven't noticed, inflation is back, especially for groceries. Prices have gone up as high as 18% for chicken, beef and pork and now they're about to be passed onto consumers at the restaurant level.

What started all of this, aside from the miserable economy, is the diversion of corn from the farmer and livestock producers to the gas pump and it's only going to get worse. Before the election, the Environmental Protection Agency increased the amount of ethanol (corn) from a 10% blend to 15%.

What does this mean? Well, corn becomes even more scarce, thus less feed for livestock. If you can't feed your cattle, hogs and chickens, you reduce the amount of live animals to keep costs in line. Now that would work out great if demand was at or below the farm inventories but it's not and that's one reason prices are headed north.

Milk is up too. From the summer prices of $2.79 a gallon for whole milk that same gallon is now selling for prices as high as $4.12 a gallon. It's forecast to only get worse with big names like General Mills, Kellogg's, McDonald's and Dominos announcing price increases. This may but the end to "value meals" and lunch for $2.99.

Ahh, the good old days when a BBQ pork sandwich was just 30 cents.