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Demand for high-quality beef an opportunity for producers
A cattle market analyst says US beef producers delivered when consumers wanted a higher quality product.
Randy Blach is CEO of CattleFax. “We’ve seen over a 60 percent increase in the amount of choice, upper 2/3 choice, and prime beef production in the United States since the 2000-2005 time period,” he says. “It’s unprecedented to what that signal has been.”
He says despite the increase in production, margins continue to improve. “That is classic beef demand growth,” he says. “That’s consumers voting with their pocketbooks saying ‘we want more of the high quality stuff’. When the restaurants were closed down they didn’t have the opportunity to go out, so we saw more of that demand shift back to the retail counter.”
He says he doesn’t anticipate demand shifting away from the retail space once restaurants fully reopen. Instead adding another demand opportunity, creating another level of price support.
Blach made his remarks during the recent Cattle Industry Convention virtual Winter Reboot.
