What's the Deal with Beef
What's the Deal with Beef?
What's the Deal with Beef?
America loves beef. America loves burgers. At Sharky's, we love our smash burgers and sell a ton of them. In the last six years, keeping up with beef prices has been an extremely difficult task. The price keeps climbing, year after year, with no relief in sight.
Looking back at the cattle industry over the last six years helps explain what's really going on with beef.
2020: COVID Hits the Supply Chain
Who can forget the first whispers of COVID in 2019 and the eventual shutdown of everything in 2020? It did a number on every business in the world, and the cattle industry was no exception. The first problem was COVID outbreaks in packing plants among the workers. Processing lines are set up for efficiency, so workers are in close proximity to one another — a setup that led to devastating outbreaks and the eventual closing and reopening of processing plants. This caused erratic price increases and shortages at stores and meat distributors.
2022: Drought Forces Herd Liquidation
This was the proverbial stake to the heart of the cattle industry. The 2022 Great Plains drought in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas not only led to skinnier cattle but, more importantly, caused feed prices to skyrocket. With ranchers getting top dollar for beef and feed prices increasing exponentially, many chose to sell their cattle for slaughter instead of keeping them for breeding.
Crucially, when pasture and feed get expensive, ranchers cull breeding cows — not just market-ready steers — to cut losses. Once a herd's breeding stock is depleted, rebuilding takes years, not a quick fix. Cattle have a nine-month gestation period, plus an additional 18 months before a calf is market-ready. "Culling" the herd wasn't a single event — it happened over three-plus years of depleting the herd's reproductive base.
By 2026, the result was clear: the national cattle herd hit its lowest point since 1951. By comparison, the U.S. population in 1951 was approximately 155 million people, while today it's around 340 million.
Where Prices Stand Today
Live cattle costs have risen at least 40% over just the last two years. In April 2026, retail beef prices hit a record $9.64/lb, up 14% year over year, and ground beef topped $6/lb for the first time ever — with premium and grass-fed ground beef clocking in well over $7/lb.
Normally, the market cools off when prices get this high and supply gets this scarce. But America's demand for beef, burgers, and protein in general has stayed strong, keeping prices at record highs with no relief in sight.
The USDA is predicting another 10% increase in beef prices this year. The American Farm Bureau Federation suggests meaningful price relief may not arrive until 2028 at the earliest — and even that depends on ranchers actually retaining heifers and rebuilding herds over the next several years.
What This Means for Your Smash Burger
So next time you bite into a Sharky's smash burger, know that we use top quality, premium beef that runs over $7/lb. "Good work ain't cheap, and cheap work ain't good."
Our smash burgers are the product of a cattle industry still recovering from a pandemic, a historic drought, and a herd that's taking years to rebuild. We're doing everything we can to keep bringing you the burgers you love — even while the beef behind them keeps getting harder (and pricier) to come by.
Cheers and see you soon……..Sharky