Beef Hit Over Agflation Threat
AUSTRALIA - Beef is the latest commodity to be hit by surging global agflation. The record price of grain has left cattle growers with the unpalatable choice of cutting grain feed or taking a huge cost slug.
5 November 2007
1 minute read
About 40 per cent of beef cattle are grain-fed or lot-fed.
Australian chicken growers also rely heavily on grain to feed their stock.
The beef industry is warning that more cattle will have to be fed on grass, meaning that retailers will face a squeeze on supplies of premium beef.
Almost all farm commodities are in short supply because of poor weather cutting crops, grains being diverted to the biofuels industry, and the China phenomenon, where a once rice-based diet is being displaced by a switch to Western foods, including dairy.
Global dairy commodity prices have risen more than 110 per cent over the past year, with milk prices in some parts of the US doubling since 2004.
Source: The Australian
