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SALT LAKE CITY — You've probably heard a lot about the drought and what it will mean for the price of food. Beef in particular will be affected.
The nationwide cattle herd is the lowest it's been in 30 years. Some ranchers in other states are thinning their herds because the drought has made it expensive to feed them.
That may mean more beef at the store and lower prices in the short term. But later, there could be less beef and higher prices.
Jacob Schmidt with the Utah Beef Council doesn't believe there will be that big of a swing in prices in Utah. He says there will always be periods where there's a little more beef or a little less beef depending on demand, fuel prices, and feed prices.
Coming up:
KSL 5 News at 6pm
The weather is also driving down the price of some crops. Why a Utah farm had to let a bumper crop of cherries rot in the trees, tonight on KSL 5 News at 6.His advice for consumers?
"Watch for sales, know when your particular grocery store has their specials. Buy it and freeze it and have it in store when you know you have it at a good price," he suggested.
Schmidt says cows are on a 12-month cycle. Typically there is a heavier supply at the beginning of summer months. He says most Utah operations are cow-calf operations. They don't raise beef all the way to the end like other states with more grazing land.
