PHOENIX — If you buy beef, particularly the more select cuts, be prepared to dig much deeper into your wallet.
The latest findings by the Arizona Farm Bureau Federation put the price of a pound of sirloin tip roast at $7.65 a pound. That’s up $1.27 from the same time last year, and $2.50 from two years earlier.
But it finally looks like the price of eggs, which peaked when the avian flu wiped out millions of birds, is coming down — a bit.
Overall, the farm bureau’s Arizona grocery-price survey tallied a $54.57 pricetag for a market basket of 16 typical items. That’s up $3.69 from the second quarter of this year.
What’s keeping beef prices high is that people keep buying it, seemingly ignoring the cost, said bureau spokeswoman Julie Murphree. Demand for beef is up not only nationally but globally, she said.
People are also reading…
That may take care of itself — eventually.
“The ranchers are adding to their herd because prices are so good,” Murphree said. “But remember, it takes 24 months to bring a steer to market,” so don’t look for immediate relief. “Until we have an oversupply of beef, we’re probably going to see those prices.”
She pointed out that there are less expensive alternatives to sirloin. But even they have grown more dear, with the price for a pound of ground chuck rising from $3.73 a year ago to $4.09 now.
Pork prices remain stable and the cost of chicken actually went down by about 20 percent in the last year.
Not so for eggs, though. The most recent survey has them selling at $3.06 a dozen. While that’s down 17 cents from the second quarter, it compares with $1.93 last year — and $1.27 in 2010.
Farmers had to destroy tens of millions of laying hens last year after the avian flu swept through their flocks. The big problem was in the Midwest, with Arizona apparently unaffected. But Murphree said the lack of supply from those other farmers drove up the demand for places like Hickman’s Family Farms, the state’s largest producer.
The rest of the quarterly report showed mixed results.
