If you think beef is expensive now, just wait until next year when prices could soar nearly 60%

In an interview Friday on Fox Business Morning with MariaHe noted that the US cattle herd is at its lowest levels in 70 years, while demand for beef is at an all-time high.

To rebuild herds, ranchers must hold on to calves rather than sending them to meat processors. There are signs this is happening, but it also means beef supplies will shrink in the near term, Rempe warned.

“So we’re heading toward what I call the $10-a-pound reality by Q3 ’26,” he predicted. “Families will see $10-per-pound ground beef at the grocery store.”

According to the latest Consumer Price Index data, the average price of ground beef was $6,323 per pound in September. This is 14% more since January and 26% more than January 2024.

If ground beef reaches $10 per pound, the price would represent a 58% increase from the September level.

Anger over deteriorating affordability led to heavy losses for Republicans during an off-year election this month.

Trump announced on Friday that he would eliminate tariffs on beef, coffee and a host of other goods. But it is non-tariff factors that are driving beef prices higher.

Drought, high interest rates, and expensive feed have sharply shrunk the U.S. cattle herd. At the same time, the demand for protein is also growing, and is even showing up in Starbucks coffee.

Wesley Batista, who shares control of the $15 billion meatpacking giant JBS, said last month that the United States needs to import more products from abroad to meet insatiable demand.

This includes supply from Brazil and Argentina. While Trump eased tariffs on Argentine beef, Rempe noted that the country only accounts for 2% of the US beef supply, meaning the solution to rising prices will depend on local producers.

But Trump also targeted meat producers, accusing them of “raising beef prices through illegal collusion, price fixing, and price gouging.”

“I am asking the Department of Justice to act quickly,” Trump wrote last week on social media. “Immediate action must be taken to protect consumers, combat illegal monopolies, and ensure these companies do not make criminal profits at the expense of the American people.”

Meanwhile, Rempe pledged not to raise prices on Omaha Steaks’ core gift packages, saying the company can benefit from stockpiling inventory, vertical integration and technology such as artificial intelligence, automation and robotics.

He also suggested consumers buy ground beef that is 80% meat and 20% fat because it represents a better cost per ounce from a yield perspective.

However, if shoppers see ground beef on the market at $10.00 per pound, it will cross a significant psychological threshold.

“It’s going to be hard on the families,” Rempe said. “I mean, this is going to be a big shock when that price point hits the four figures. It’s like it’s increased dramatically.”