Beef prices hit all-time high in U.S.

[unhappycamper]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-beef-prices-20140406,0,2966247.story



Jerry Haines, general manager of R.C. Provision in Burbank, holds pastrami that's ready for shipping. The company, which supplies Pink's, Langer's Delicatessen and other eateries, is struggling as beef prices have hit a record high in the U.S.

Beef prices hit all-time high in U.S.
By David Pierson and Tiffany Hsu
April 8, 2014, 6:05 p.m.

Come grilling season, expect your sirloin steak to come with a hearty side of sticker shock.

Beef prices have reached all-time highs in the U.S. and aren't expected to come down any time soon.

Extreme weather has thinned the nation's beef cattle herds to levels last seen in 1951, when there were about half as many mouths to feed in America.

"We've seen strong prices before but nothing this extreme," said Dennis Smith, a commodities broker for Archer Financial Services in Chicago. "This is really new territory."