Soaring feed costs may lead pig, cattle farmers to reduce herds; meat prices certain to rise
By Joshua Boak | Tribune Reporter
April 27, 2008
Alicia Williams dug into three strips of salt pork, each sizzled to a golden complexion, at Izola's restaurant in the South Chicago neighborhood.
"I love it," she said Friday of her weekly treat. "To me, it's better than bacon."
Served with hash browns and cheese grits, the breakfast cost only $4.50 at the 24-hour eatery. But Williams would gladly pay more. And with record-high corn and soybean prices slaughtering many hog farmers and cattlemen, she will soon have to. Although a dozen eggs jumped in price by 35 percent compared with last year, and a pound loaf of white bread rose 12 percent, boneless pork chops are $3.53 a pound, a penny less than a year ago.
The cheap price of pork is a bounty for consumers fatigued by food inflation, but it's wreaking havoc with hog producers. The cattle business is suffering, too, since beef prices also are failing to match rising expenses.
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