2026-04-13T11:22:00-0400 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻网
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更新于：2026年4月13日 / 美国东部时间上午11:53 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻网
尽管鸡蛋等其他主食食品的价格在过去一年中有所下跌，但绞碎牛肉的价格仍居高不下。圣路易斯联邦储备银行的数据显示，3月份绞碎牛肉的价格为每磅6.70美元，同比上涨近16%。牛排3月份的售价为每磅12.73美元，同样较去年同期上涨了16%。
相比之下，2021年绞碎牛肉的价格仅为每磅3.96美元，而十年前其均价为3.75美元。
对于牛肉爱好者而言，不幸的是，这类价格短期内不太可能回落。
“目前没有任何迹象表明牛肉价格会有所回落，”俄克拉荷马州立大学农业经济学教授德里尔·皮尔说道。
事实上，短期内牛肉价格甚至可能进一步上涨，随着夏季烧烤季的临近，美国民众在杂货店的牛肉支出很难得到缓解。
美国农业部在最新预测中估计，2026年牛肉价格将上涨逾10%，涨幅甚至可能达到18%。
“我预计牛肉价格将在今年剩余时间内维持高位，甚至可能持续到明年，”密歇根州立大学食品经济学家戴维·奥尔特加说道。
在美国民众面临牛肉价格上涨之际，伊朗局势引发的冲突正推高汽油和民用取暖油等其他生活必需品的成本。上周公布的消费者价格指数显示，3月份通胀率同比上涨3.3%，较前一个月高出整整一个百分点。
奥尔特加表示，中东地区的冲突可能还会在未来几个月推高食品价格，因为柴油价格飙升将推高运输成本。这种影响不会立即显现，但可能在未来几个月传导至牛肉等易腐食品。
他补充道：“柴油价格上涨将影响农业食品供应链的各个环节，从农场主操作联合收割机、运输牲畜养殖户所需的谷物，到最终将加工好的牛肉产品运送到商店，无一幸免。”
根据哥伦比亚广播公司新闻网价格追踪器的数据，截至3月份，美国整体食品价格较2022年1月上涨了近20%。
尽管伊朗局势引发的通胀加剧了民众的负担，但这并非推高牛肉价格的主要因素。经济学家表示，主要原因在于美国牛群规模缩减，而美国人对牛肉的需求却并未减少。经济学的基本规律是，当需求超过供给时，价格往往会上涨。
美国农业部的数据显示，1月份美国肉牛存栏量降至不足2800万头，同比下降1%，为自20世纪60年代以来的最低水平。该机构将这一下降归因于美国日益严峻的干旱天气：干旱减少了肉牛的放牧草场，迫使牧场主转向成本更高的饲料，部分牧场主甚至不得不缩减牛群规模。
这种情况在2022年达到顶峰：当年美国西部这一主要牛肉产区遭遇干旱，同年俄罗斯入侵乌克兰推高了饲料成本，使得饲养牲畜的成本进一步上升，奥尔特加说道。
“饲养牲畜的成本变得高昂，因此牧场主出售了大量牲畜，”牛群规模因此缩减，未来牛肉供应也更难扩张，他解释道，并指出牛的妊娠期较长，繁殖周期较慢。
美国人依然热爱牛肉
到目前为止，牛肉价格上涨并未对美国消费者产生太大的抑制作用。尼尔森IQ向哥伦比亚广播公司新闻网提供的数据显示，截至3月底，牛肉的销量仅同比下降4%，而销售额（即企业从牛肉销售中获得的收入）则上涨了8%。这家全球市场调研公司汇总了美国杂货店、一元店以及全国其他零售商的销售数据。
“牛肉的需求并未减少，”总部位于德克萨斯州沃斯堡、向牧场主销售水资源监测技术的Ranchbot公司首席执行官安德鲁·科平近期对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻网说道。“实际上，消费者在牛肉上的支出挤占了猪肉和鸡肉的市场份额，即便在温和的通胀环境下，牛肉的表现也优于其他肉类。”
如果说消费者还有一线希望的话，那就是牛群规模有反弹的空间。奥尔特加指出，美国农业部的数据显示，牧场主正在减少屠宰量，增加雌性肉牛的数量——这表明他们可能优先考虑育种和恢复牛群规模。
“高价格会向生产者发出信号，促使他们重建牛群、扩大供应，”他对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻网说道。“由于当前价格高企，我们可能会在未来几个月乃至几年内看到供应增加，这将有助于缓解目前的高价局面。”
编辑：阿兰·谢特
Beef, that all-American food, is getting harder for Americans to afford
2026-04-13T11:22:00-0400 / CBS News
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Updated on: April 13, 2026 / 11:53 AM EDT / CBS News
While the cost of other food staples, like eggs, has sunk in the last year, ground beef prices remain searingly high. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows that ground beef prices were $6.70 a pound in March, up nearly 16% from a year ago. Beef steaks, which were $12.73 per pound in March, are also up 16% from a year ago.
In 2021, by comparison, ground beef cost as little as $3.96 a pound, while a decade ago it averaged $3.75.
Unfortunately for beef lovers, those prices aren’t likely to recede anytime soon.
“There is nothing to suggest any relief from high beef prices,” said Derrell Peel, a professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University.
In fact, beef prices could even rise in the short-term, offering Americans little relief at the grocery store as summer barbecue season heats up.
In its latest forecast, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that beef prices will climb more than 10% in 2026, and perhaps by as much as 18%.
“I would expect beef prices to remain high for the remainder of this year and potentially into next year as well,” said David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University.
Americans are facing higher beef prices at a time when the Iran war is driving up the cost of other essentials like gas and residential heating oil. The Consumer Price Index last week showed that inflation in March jumped 3.3%from a year ago, almost a full percentage point higher than the previous month’s reading.
The conflict in the Middle East could also push food prices higher in the coming months as a spike in diesel prices lifts transportation costs. The increase wouldn’t be immediate, but could potentially flow through to perishables like beef in the coming months, Ortega said.
“Higher diesel prices are going to affect costs all along the agri-food supply chain, from my running a combine, to transporting the grain that livestock producers need, to then transporting the actual processed beef products to the store,” he added.
As of March, U.S. food prices overall had risen nearly 20% from January 2022, according to the CBS News Price Tracker.
Although inflation stemming from the Iran war isn’t helping, it’s not the main factor driving up beef prices. The main culprit, according to economists: U.S. cattle herds have shrunk, but Americans’ appetite for beef has not. And a basic rule of economics is that prices tend to climb when demand outstrips supply.
The number of beef cows in the U.S. fell to less than 28 million in January, down 1% from the year prior and the lowest levels since the 1960s, according to data from the Department of Agriculture. The agency attributes the drop to worsening drought conditions in the U.S., which it said is reducing the amount of pasture for cattle to graze, forcing ranchers to turn to more costly feed, and in some cases to cull their herds.
That came to a head in 2022, when a drought hit the western U.S., a key region for beef production. The same year, Russia invaded Ukraine, pushing up feed costs and making it more expensive to maintain cattle, Ortega said.
“It became costly to hold on to livestock. So ranchers sold a lot of those animals,” shrinking herds and making it harder to expand future beef supplies, he explained, noting that cattle take longer to reproduce because they have a long gestation period.
Americans still love beef
So far, higher beef prices haven’t done much to deter U.S. shoppers. Data from NielsenIQ shared with CBS News shows that, as of late March, unit sales for beef are down only 4% year-over-year, while dollar sales (the revenue companies take in from beef purchases) were up 8%. The global marketing research firm aggregates sales data from U.S. grocery stores, dollar stores and other retailers across the country.
Demand for “beef has not diminished,” Andrew Coppin, CEO of Ranchbot, a Fort Worth, Texas-based company that sells water-monitoring technology to ranchers, recently told CBS News. “It’s actually taken more wallet off pork and chicken, so it’s been faring better even in a moderate inflation environment,” he said.
If there’s a sliver of hope for consumers, it’s that cattle herds have room to rebound. Ortega pointed to USDA data showing that ranchers are slaughtering fewer cattle and increasing the number of female beef cows — a sign they could be prioritizing breeding and replenishing herds.
“High prices are what signal producers to rebuild the herd and expand supply,” he told CBS News. “Because of these high prices, we may start to see additional supply in future months and years that will then sort of help moderate these high prices.”
Edited by Alain Sherter