REAL LIFE NEWS: ARE WE HEADING FOR A BURGER SHORTAGE?
by Hazed
The American beef industry is in trouble - so does that mean in future burgers will be scarce?
The problem is that the US national herd is at an all-time low, down to just under 91 million head of cattle - it was at 132 million in 1975.
There are two main reasons for the drop. The first is the drought that has affected about 80% of the country’s agricultural land. Many famers have not had any pasture on which to graze their cattle, so they’ve been forced to get rid of them.
The drought has also affected grain crops, with their yield estimated to be about 13% less than last year. This means there isn’t as much grain to fatten the beef herds, which has also increased the pressure on farmers to reduce their stock.
But that’s not all. Another factor is the growth of biofuel, made from grain -f the crop is used to produce fuel, it’s not available to feed the cows. This year 42% of the corn crop is expected to go towards ethanol production.
So all in all, it’s not looking good for beef farmers. Or for consumers! We may see shortages and/or higher prices.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20530256
