Cattle futures are likely to be impacted by offshoots of the harsh summer of 2012 in regions of the U.S., which prompted many acres of pasture land to dry, according to Bloomberg.
Byproducts of the worst drought in more than 70 years drew down populations of herds of cattle to their smallest numbers since the early 1950s while also demonstrating increased costs for some eateries. Popular fast food restaurant Chipotle Mexican Grill said it might have no choice but to increase prices.
“There’s a huge cattle country that is in need of quite a bit of moisture,” owner Bill Donald of a Montana ranch told the news source. “It’s going to take a major change in the weather patterns.”
At 12:51 p.m. on Thursday, live cattle futures fell 0.19 percent, a 0.0025 cent loss to $1.2915 per pound.
Reuters reports the cattle herd population in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest population in 61 years as a result of the drought. The lack of rain also drove costs of feed to record high prices last summer, the news source reports.
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