MILWAUKEE, Wis. — With the Milwaukee Brewers in the playoffs, barbecues, tailgates and watch parties are a constant, and fans could feel the financial impact as ground beef prices continue to climb.
"Brewers go! I hope, I hope they take it all away," said Shelley Mathews, a shopper at Outpost Natural Foods Co-op.
Watch: Ground beef surge forces Brewers fans to rethink tailgate menus this postseason
Mathews is a Wisconsin sports fan and an even bigger Wisconsin farmers fan. She works at Full Circle 26 Inc., where she teaches people how to grow food indoors and monitors how farmers are doing across the state.
Like many shoppers, she's noticed that ground beef prices have increased significantly. The price is up about 51% since February 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"When COVID happened, our food supply was broken. And you don't, you know, raise a beef cattle overnight. It's taken a while for the industry to catch back up in the food supply and distribution, too," Mathews said.
Research shows that low supply of cattle, environmental factors and labor shortages all contribute to boosting beef prices.
Fellow shopper Suzanne Witas says over the past year she's noticed the cost go up from about $8 to $9 per pound to $10 to $12 per pound of ground beef.
"I don't buy it as often at the grocery store. I do find it at farmers' markets. The quality is better and the price is actually better where it didn't used to be, it used to be more expensive getting it from the farmers market, and I've been buying it there for about eight bucks a pound," Witas said.
Both Witas and Mathews suggest finding fresh options and supporting local farmers – even for Brewers tailgates.
"Find a good farmer that you trust and buy in bulk," Witas said.
"Making sure that we support our local farmers, we are in Wisconsin, and make it that you that you have good quality locally grown food and produce," Mathews said. "Other than that, go Brewers!"
TMJ4 tracks the price of ground beef and other common grocery list items from stores in the Milwaukee area through its price tracker.
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