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All rights reserved. <a href="https://help.foxbusiness.com/hc/en-us/sections/4405278462107-FAQ">FAQ</a> - <a href="/privacy-policy">New Privacy Policy</a><br>FOX Business correspondent Jeff Flock discusses the record ground beef prices due to supply issues on ‘Varney & Co.’ <br>High beef prices have been weighing on U.S. businesses and consumers.<br>They have forced some businesses to make tough decisions about how to handle the increased costs, and some are passing the costs on to customers. <br>Rob Passio, the owner of Lombardi’s Prime Meats in Philadelphia, told <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/person/f/jeff-flock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FOX Business correspondent Jeff Flock</a> on "Varney & Co" that "there’s only so much you can absorb as far as the hit to your bottom line before you say to yourself you have to raise these prices." <br>The butcher shop, Passio said, hasn’t seen its customers balk at higher prices "because they see it." <br><a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/eggs-not-only-expensive-food-beef-prices-also-rise" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>EGGS ARE NOT THE ONLY EXPENSIVE FOOD: BEEF PRICES ARE ALSO ON THE RISE</strong></a><br><span>Organic ground beef Oct. 30, 2020, in Bavaria, Nuremberg</span><span> (Daniel Karmann/picture alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)</span><br>"They see <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/category/inflation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the inflation.</a> They see the pricing. You know, everything is up," he told Flock.<br>Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation data measured by the consumer price index (CPI) showed prices for beef and veal were up 2.4% month-over-month and 7.6% year-over-year in February. <br>The overall CPI posted a 0.2% increase month-over-month and a 2.8% jump year-over-year.<br>Courtney Schmidt, sector manager at Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute, told <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FOX Business</a> last month that high beef prices were driven by tighter U.S. beef production with consistent consumer demand.<br>The U.S. cattle herd is experiencing a down cycle, with cattle inventories at historically low levels in 2025, according to Schmidt.<br><span>Demand for beef has remained strong since the pandemic, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.</span><span> (Kennedy Hayes/Fox News / Fox News)</span><br>The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported in late January that U.S. farms had 86.7 million head of cattle and calves. The count for beef cows specifically was 27.9 million, a decline of 1% compared to the same time last year, according to the USDA.<br>"I know they’re killing smaller cattle, so they’re trying, I guess, to kill them faster to create the supply that demand is needing," Passio said. <br>Some big companies source beef from Canada and Mexico, Flock reported on "Varney & Co."<br><a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/apps-products" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE</strong></a><br>President Donald Trump imposed <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/category/economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">25% import tariffs</a> on goods entering the U.S. from those two countries March 4 and, more recently, introduced exemptions for Mexico and Canada on goods under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement until early April.<br>Such a levy on imported beef would "increase the price," according to Passio, adding that consumers "are going to pay for it."<br>"My philosophy is to sell it as low as you can to show a savings, a value to the customer. And hopefully you have more customers to generate your revenue," the Lombardi Prime Meats owner told Flock.  <br><span>Packages of beef are displayed for sale at a supermarket Jan. 12, 2023, in Foster City, Calif.</span><span> (Liu Guanguan/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images / Getty Images)</span><br>In the U.S., ground beef averaged $5.63 per pound in February, while the per-pound price of <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/category/food-drinks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">boneless sirloin steak</a> came in at $11.90, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Those average prices were 9.6% and 1.6% higher, respectively, than the same month in 2024.<br><a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/egg-price-spike-we-past-tough-part-agriculture-secretary-rollins-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>EGG PRICE SPIKE: WE ARE ‘PAST THE TOUGH PART,’ AGRICULTURE SECRETARY ROLLINS SAYS</strong></a><br>The USDA projected in a report released this month that U.S. beef production is poised to amount to 26.685 billion pounds this year. <br><i>Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.</i><br><br>Get a brief on the top business stories of the week, plus CEO interviews, market updates, tech and money news that matters to you.<br>We've added you to our mailing list.<br>By clicking subscribe, you agree to the Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/privacy-policy" target="_blank">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/terms-of-use" target="_blank">Terms of Use</a>, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. 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