U.S. Beef Supply for Fast-Food Hamburgers May Ebb, Analyst Says

U.S. Beef Supply for Fast-Food Hamburgers May Ebb, Analyst Says

The price of cows slaughtered to make
fast-food hamburgers may climb in 2012 as supplies shrink, said
Brett Stuart, the co-founder of Global AgriTrends.
The outlook for more precipitation in the southern U.S.
this year following a drought may reduce cow slaughter, curbing
supplies of lean-grinding beef used to make fast-food
hamburgers, Stuart said today in a presentation at an industry
conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
Supplies may also tighten as a strong Australian dollar
makes it “very difficult” to import the meat, said Stuart, who
is also a consultant for CattleFax, an industry researcher.
“If we kill fewer cattle and have fewer lean-grinding
beef supplies, we have to get those supplies somewhere,” Stuart
said. “It means we’re going to pressure those prices higher.
We’re going to have to hunt harder to keep the fast-food
hamburger machine full.”