A South Dakota cattle rancher, Eric Gropper, is not making more money despite record-high US beef prices due to increased input costs and drought conditions affecting his land. The price of beef has risen 12% in the past year, but Gropper says he's only breaking even because he's receiving higher bids for his calves at livestock auctions. As a result of a national cattle shortage caused by drought and disease pressure, Gropper is getting record prices for his calves, but his costs have also skyrocketed with expenses such as new equipment and feed increasing dramatically.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The article's tone is generally neutral, with balanced presentation of both economic data and individual farmer's perspective. However, some word choices like 'soared to record highs' for beef prices might slightly imply a negative connotation, suggesting that the high prices are an issue rather than a natural response to market forces.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score -0.25 for article 562 · logged 2026-08-06
- Published
With US beef prices soaring to record highs, you might think that South Dakota cattle rancher Eric Gropper would be celebrating.
uncertain
Gropper → publish → highs
Yet while the cost of the meat in US supermarkets is now 12% higher, external than it was a year ago, a rise more than three times the rate of general inflation, Gropper says that he and all the other beef farmers aren't making any more profit than usual.
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he → say → profit
The BBC World Service's Follow the Money series spent a week tracing the American beef supply chain to find out what has caused the price jump and discover where all the cash is going.
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cash → follow → jump
The rancher
Eric Gropper has about 350 breeding cows on around 8,000 acres of grassland in south-west South Dakota.
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rancher → have → Dakota
Most of it he leases from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
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he → lease → Reservation
Gropper doesn't set the price for his calves.
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Gropper → set → calves
Instead once a year he takes them to a livestock auction where buyers place bids and the hammer decides.
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hammer → take → bids
Right now the bids are the highest he has ever seen - around $2,500 (£1,883) for a 600lb (272kg) calf, up from $2,000 two years ago.
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he → see → 2,000
These record prices are driven by a simple fact – there are not enough cattle.
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prices → drive → fact
Due to a combination of drought in many states, and disease pressure, at the start of this year the US had fewer cattle than at any point since 1951.
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US → have → 1951
, external
Gropper is experiencing drought first hand, as the 13 natural wells across his land that provide ground water for his cattle have run dry.
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that → experience → cattle
He has to use a water tanker instead.
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He → have → tanker
Due to the national shortage of cattle, Gropper is getting record prices for his.
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Gropper → get → his
But unfortunately his costs have equally climbed to new highs.
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costs → climb → highs
A new pick-up truck that once cost $40,000 now runs to $100,000.
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that → pick → 100,000
A wooden fence post has gone from about $6 to as much as $19.
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post → go → 19
A quarter-mile roll of barbed wire has doubled, from $60 to $130.
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roll → double → 130
Everything he uses day to day, he says, has jumped in price since the Covid pandemic.
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he → use → pandemic
And with little grass on parched fields – well over 60% of US cattle are now grazing on drought-hit land - farms like his are having to buy in hay, silage and other fodder for their cattle.
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farms → graze → cattle
I'm able to pay my bills, but my input costs are so drastically high that if we didn't have these record prices we'd all be broke.
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we → pay → prices
I sit down to do my taxes, and it feels like I made a lot of money.
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I → sit → money
But in the end I really didn't make any more."
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I → make → more
The feedlot
Gropper's calves don't go straight to slaughter.
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calves → go → slaughter
At around six-months-old they are bought by companies that run feedlots – large yards where the animals are fattened on corn and other grains for the final three to six months of their lives.
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animals → buy → lives
The biggest yards hold well over 100,000 cattle at a time.
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yards → hold → time
Around 95% of US cattle are finished this way.
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% → finish → cattle
Brenda Boetel, professor of agricultural economics at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls, watches this part of the chain closely.
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Boetel → watch → chain
She says that while the feedlot companies are currently selling cattle at record prices, they are having to buy them at all-time highs in the first place.
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they → say → place
So they are not making bigger profits.
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they → make → profits
The meatpacker
A meatpacker is the plant that slaughters the animal and breaks the carcass down into the cuts that reach shops or restaurants.
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that → slaughter → shops
Four companies - Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef - control around 85% of American beef processing.
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companies → control → processing
That high level of market concentration has drawn accusations of price-fixing, even from President Trump.
So you might expect that those four firms are currently making huge profits from high beef prices.
uncertain
firms → draw → prices
Yet the opposite is happening.
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opposite → happen → ?
Tyson, the biggest of the four, reported in May that it had lost more than $500m, external on beef in the first half of its financial year.
uncertain
it → report → year
Again, it might be selling its beef for record highs, but it is also buying the cattle at all-time peaks.
uncertain
it → sell → peaks
Jamie Crumley owns one of the remaining smaller meatpackers - Harpley's Meatpacking in central North Carolina.
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Crumley → own → Carolina
She says the price companies like hers have to pay for the live animals has gone up by as much as 60% over the past three years.
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companies → say → years
And while meatpacking companies have increased the prices they charge for their beef, there is a limit.
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they → increase → beef
This is because supermarkets, restaurants – and US consumers – can, and will, simply switch to buying chicken or cheaper imported beef instead.
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supermarkets → switch → chicken
For example, Harpley's is built to handle 425 to 450 cattle a day.
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Harpley → build → cattle
…and 22 more, not listed.
