A marketing division of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association in Calgary says a predicted rise in meat prices by the end of the year should be short lived.
Brian Perillat, a senior analyst with CanFax, says the price of beef should drop again by early in the new year because cattle inventories should bounce back in a few months.
Perillat says a prediction by researchers at Dalhousie University shouldn't be as bad as they make it out to be.
"We are going to have more meat become available later this year. The U.S. beef herd has expanded significantly but Canada is flat. Our herd hasn't grown much but due to the growth in the U.S., we will see more beef around North America," says Perillat.
He also points out that current meat prices are 6% lower than they were a year ago.
Beef prices rose in 2014, 2015, and part of 2016 -- but dropped again last fall.
Perillat expects meat prices will get close to retail records set about a year ago, but they won't stay there long.
"We've probably seen some of the price increases so far this year but later in the year we'll probably see a little bit of a reprieve," Perillat says, adding most meat consumers won't feel the pinch. "We're talking 50 cents or a dollar a kilogram in terms of changes in prices. 5% or 7% sounds big, but at the end of the day for the average consumer it's not going to have a big impact on their grocery bill."
