Source: MEATINGPLACE, 3/31/16


Projections for U.S. meat consumption in USDA’s latest World Agriculture Supply Demand Estimates report suggest Americans will eat as much red meat and poultry this year as they did almost a decade ago.

A rebound in beef supplies spurred by rebuilding of the drought-depleted herd tells only part of the story, said Jim Robb, director of the Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC) in Lakewood, Colo.

“Beef is going up, but total red meat and poultry is going up even quicker. We are now going to ask consumers in the U.S. to eat as much meat as they did in 2008,” Robb told Meatingplace.

USDA projects the average American will consume 54.3 pounds of beef this year. LMIC’s projection is slightly higher, at 54.8 pounds, and represents the highest consumption since 2013.

LMIC expects Americans to consume 213.7 pounds on average of all red meat and poultry in 2016, up more than 10 pounds from the recent bottom of 201.9 pounds in 2014.

Difficulty exporting chicken due to avian influenza-related bans is a key culprit in growing chicken supplies.

“Chicken prices are down. Pork prices are down. Beef prices are down. To get this added meat through the system, we’ve already seen year-to-year declines in meat prices, and we will see more,” Robb said.

Robb, an agricultural economist, said per-capita consumption of all meat and poultry should continue to trend upward in 2017 but at a moderate pace, with the average American expected to eat 214.1 pounds in 2017.

“If we price it correctly, they will eat it,” he said. 

For more stories, go to   www.meatingplace.com .