Inflation Continues To Hurt The Idaho Cattle Industry

Listen to the national news, and you’ll hear discussions about how inflation is not what it was last year or even a few months ago.  And while that may have a direct impact on many sectors of the U.S. economy, unfortunately agriculture is not one of them.  Cameron Mulrony, Executive Vice President of the Idaho Cattle Association, said the inflation rate maybe a snapshot of what’s occurring right now, but that doesn’t tell the entire story. 

“That number is increased year-over-year. So, to answer your question, has the inflation rate softened?  Possibly, but if it inflated 10% last year and “only” 2% this year, that's still 12% over two years ago.  So, that's where, you know, it hasn't softened back down to where prices were two years ago.”

Mulrony noted that a lot of operations are doing well because cattle prices are high.

“But if you think back to two years ago or maybe three years ago, ‘22 or ‘21 depending on when you were selling your calves, the predicted margin in that year was very similar to the predicted margin in 1982.  And the buying power of a dollar in ‘82 versus the buying power in ‘22 is a lot different," Mulrony stressed.  "So, I think the guys that have overcome the challenges in the last couple years, and are able to realize a little more margin this year, are really just kind of playing catch up, and keep those operations stable for generation into the future at this point.  We're not necessarily seeing a big softening of our expenses.”

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