https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/business/drought-farmers-cows/index.html

With smaller herds and fewer breeding cows, the next two years could spell higher beef prices for consumers. The US Department of Agriculture, or USDA, is projecting a 7% decline in beef production next year.

  • Metalorg [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Doesn't America have huge price controls for beef?

    • came_apart_at_Kmart [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      not exactly. there's a "beef checkoff" program whereby a private association of processors charges a "tax" on processing to finance the Beef Council, when lobbies the government on behalf of food processors to induce demand for beef products. "beef: it's what's for dinner" is one of the more broadly known campaigns to the public, but obviously there are behinds the scenes projects for institutional purchases.

      there's a direct payment subsidy system for corn/soy production to keep these feed materials available cheaply and there are various support systems for water source development, equipment purchasing, and sort of piecemeal inducements to promote conservation practices. out west, where the feds still own a lot of land via the Bureau of Land Management, grazing leases can be had for very cheap, which is certainly a subsidy.

      generally speaking though, in the post Nixon era, US ag policy has been about flooding domestic and international markets with very cheap raw agricultural products via production subsidies, which is essentially a corporate giveaway to those further down the supply chain, like multinational food processors.

      so like, collapsing commodity prices due to overproduction is sort of the goal of the system, with collapse of rural livelihood being kind of a "bonus".