Here's Why Meat Prices Will Be Higher In 2021

Meat and beef prices continue to trend higher in 2021 as the cost of feeding the cows are becoming more expensive amid soaring corn and soy prices, Fox Business' Lydia Hu reported.

What Happened: The cost of feeding one cow historically averages between $400 to $500 a year, but costs skyrocketed by $200 a cow throughout 2020, Rock Ridge Farm Owner John Van Vught told Hu.

The farming industry has gotten used to periods of inflation in commodity costs followed by periods of deflations. But 2021 is far from a typical year as prices have increased rapidly to the point where there is no option but to pass along the higher cost to consumers at the grocery store.

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Why It's Important: Corn prices have risen by more than 40% over the past year while soybean prices are higher by 60%.

"It costs $200 to $300 more to raise a cow and you only get 500 pounds from a cow," the farmer said. "We are going to have to raise our prices at the retail side."

What's Next: Meat producers all across the U.S. will likely be going through the same process of increasing their costs to reflect higher input prices, Hu said. The price increase may also be seen across other protein categories, including pork and poultry.

(Photo by Sander Dalhuisen on Unsplash)