Minnesota Farmers Union

(November 20, 2009) - The Sunday flier for one of the national grocery chains with stores in our community offered boneless pork loins for $1.59 per pound. That same circular had 14-18 pound New York strip loins for sale for $3.99 per pound, only 40 cents lower than a boneless chuck roast.

Over the last eight years, the lowest sale price for boneless pork loins has been $1.99 a pound, and the regular price has been a fairly steady $3.99 per pound. Likewise, the lowest price we have seen for New York strip loins has been an infrequent $5.99 per pound, with the usual price running between $8.99 and $9.99, when they are in the meat counter. Most often all that is available are the packaged steaks at a higher price.

While the temporary low prices are a boon to the consumer, they indicate serious problems in the livestock sector.

In the 1998-2001 period, the crop sector experienced a long period of prices that were well below the cost of production. During that same period, animal agriculture was able to expand based in part on low feed costs.