Cattle producers have witnessed the price spread for dressed beef cut-outs between choice grade beef and select grade beef has narrowed in recent weeks. What was a price spread of $20 to $25 has now fallen to a price spread of under $10. Lee Schultz, Livestock Marketing Specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach says some of the narrowing of the price spread between choice and select beef is seasonal.
Schultz offers an explanation as to why we see the price spread between choice and select grade beef at various times of the year.
Schultz says if beef prices go higher through the summer, as expected, because of fewer cattle numbers, then there will be an even greater competition between steak house restaurants and grocery and supermarkets for obtaining and offering higher grade cuts of beef.
