Just in time for your Memorial Day barbecue, ground beef prices have reached their lowest point in two years.
Retail prices for ground beef were just over $3.80 per pound for the first quarter of 2016, according to Bloomberg News.
A good year for feed crops has meant that ranchers need to spend less on feeding their cattle, and ranchers have been expanding their herds. Both of these have led to a bigger supply and lower prices for consumers.
And it isn’t just the drop in beef prices that could make your cookout cheaper this weekend. Bloomberg’s “barbecue index,” which tracks the prices of a basket of goods including ice cream and potato chips, has fallen in recent months.
There could soon be even more cattle out there. Bloomberg notes that the number of cattle being placed into feedlots was up 7.4% in April from a year ago, meaning that there could be another increase in supply in four to six months.
