Why have US beef prices risen around 13% over the past year? Who is making money from the burgers and steaks Americans eat? Presenter Sam Fenwick speaks to a cattle rancher in South Dakota, an agricultural economist in Wisconsin, a meat packer in North Carolina and a restaurant owner in Nebraska to find out what is happening in this quintessentially American corner of the food market. We unpack the US beef supply chain to discover why prices are rising, who is making money from it and who is getting squeezed.<br>(Photo: A cow waiting to eat at a feedlot in Saltillo, Mexico, 1 June, 2026. Credit: Daniel Becerril/Reuters)<br>You can email the team: businessdaily@bbc.co.uk<br>Presenter: Sam Fenwick<br>Producer: Gideon Long

Follow the money: The beef with US beef

Business Daily

Somewhere in America tonight, someone's cooking burgers in the backyard. And whoever it is has probably noticed something. The beef costs more. A lot more. Beef and veal prices in America are up almost 13% on a year ago. Stakes up nearly 15%. Overall, inflation isn't even a third of that.

I'm Sam Fenwick. This is Business Daily from the BBC World Service. Today, we're following the money from the rancher to the restaurant and grocery store. Why are prices so high? And who's actually making money out of what you eat?

Pick up three things from a US meat counter this week. A pack of mince, a steak and a burger. All three cost much more than they did a year ago. And behind every one of them is the same chain. And it starts with a cow. Now, there are fewer cows in America right now than at almost any point in living memory. Because what you're seeing at the meat counter is really the end of a much longer chain.

There are four links. The rancher, the feedlot, that's basically a giant cattle fattening yard, the meat packer and the restaurant that finally puts the burger on your plate. And we're going to follow the money through all four and find out who's actually getting richer and who's getting squeezed.

Eric Groper is a fourth generation cattle rancher in southwest South Dakota, a Native American who leases his land from the Oglala Sioux tribe. His farm is remote, seven miles from the nearest paved road, two and a half hours drive in each direction to the closest towns. He sells his calves once a year at a local sale barn.

Follow the money: The beef with US beef

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Follow the money: The beef with US beef

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.