Beef stays red-hot for the cookout

The bill for the backyard grill this year is not going to feel like a bargain. Reuters reported that "U.S. grill masters and home chefs face sizzling beef prices for summer cookouts as drought and wildfires have discouraged ranchers from expanding cattle supplies that are at their lowest levels in 75 years."

The average retail price of ground beef hit $8.62 a pound in May, up "more than 12 percent" from a year earlier, Reuters said, citing U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The American Farm Bureau Federation's annual July 4 cookout survey found two pounds of ground beef at $14.06, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier; two pounds of chicken breasts at $8.06, up 3.5 percent; and three pounds of pork chops at $14.79, up 4.7 percent. The Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute estimated the total cost of a barbecue for 10 people at $161, up 2.4 percent, with the hamburger-beef component alone up 14 percent, per Reuters.

Behind the numbers is a supply squeeze that will not resolve fast. "There is no real lever to pull in the domestic market to get more supply in the short term," Michael Swanson, Wells Fargo's chief agricultural economist, told Reuters.

Washington blocked Mexican cattle imports more than a year ago over the spread of the New World screwworm parasite. Bill Bullard, chief executive of cattle producers' group R-CALF USA, told Reuters: "In times like this when the domestic supply is already inadequate to meet domestic demand, the inaccessibility of Mexican cattle supplies exacerbates the supply/demand imbalance, sending markets spiraling."

Brenda Masek, a rancher in Purdum, Neb., said simply: "Right now, I'm just happy if I can hold on to what I've got." And rebuilding herds "takes at least two years" once ranchers begin retaining female heifers for breeding, Reuters said.

CNBC added that consumer demand for beef "isn't falling" despite the prices, which will keep pressure on the shelf.