Why These Items Skyrocketed in Price This Year

Source: https://www.askaprepper.com/

There’s no doubt about it, prices seem to be going up on everything from groceries to gas and even ground beef.

With all these skyrocketing prices on everyday essential items, you’re only right to wonder if there’s some price gouging going on here. It can’t all be inflation, right?

So, I thought we could dig a little deeper to look at some of the more common items that have gone up on store shelves, to find out why they’re suffering from such skyrocketing prices.

Eggs

The strange fluctuations in the price of eggs in the last year or so have certainly been frustrating. Eggs are basic items that for ages have always been cheap. Yet suddenly, the price of eggs has doubled or in some places tripled.

Several factors cause egg prices to fluctuate each year. Chickens lay fewer eggs in the winter, and good old supply and demand drives up the price in northern tier states. Young chickens also don’t start to lay their first eggs until late spring or early summer.

Avian influenza is also a big factor causing a spike in egg prices. When an outbreak does occur, poultry farmers can suffer major losses, or their entire operation shut down.

If this happens a lot, like it did this past year, it can cause the price of eggs to skyrocket. Often without warning or proper explanation.

Money Saving Tip

One great way to combat rising egg prices is to raise your own backyard chickens. A few hens can provide a steady supply of fresh eggs while also reducing kitchen waste by eating scraps. I feed my chickens this plant, which doubles their egg production.

Beef

The skyrocketing price of beef this year can have you wondering if they’re feeding steers’ blood diamonds instead of hay! However, the price of beef is significantly influenced by several factors.

Globally, this year a lot of prime beef-producing areas were struck with prolonged drought.

This increased the price of grain, which meant it was harder for commercial farms and ranches to feed the steers meant for slaughter. It also made it costlier to keep feeding their heifers, which they need to continue providing the operations with steers in the next generation.

High summer fuel prices also contributed to the skyrocketing price of beef. It costs more to run the machinery needed to grow the grain they eat. It also costs more to transport harvested steers through the feedlot to butchering and distribution process.

Money Saving Tip

Beef tends to be at its lowest point in the year in the fall. This is when ranchers are reducing the size of their herds for the winter. Talk to your local butcher about buying a half or quarter of a steer. You should then can it using this tried and tested method, like I did, for a 20+ year shelf life.

Butter and Milk

Butter and milk suffer from the same price problems that beef does. Except there are additional factors weighing in.

The heat of the summer and prolonged drought meant that dairy cows were producing less milk. This reduces the supply available to meet demand, which drives up the prices.

There was also a HPAI A(H5N1) “Bird Flu” outbreak in multiple states this year, which also managed to affect the bovine population. Massive commercial dairy operations were temporarily shut down or quarantined without allowing any milk production to go out.

Fuel and transportation costs are also more volatile in the dairy industry. Milk needs to be transported from producer farms to processors every few days, if not daily. This means fuel costs for milk trucks. It also means fuel costs for the delivery trucks that bring butter, cream, milk, and all those other essential dairy products to stores.

Money Saving Tip

Milk and butter tend to be at their lowest in late spring and early summer. Often right before gas prices go up in anticipation of the summer travel season. You can buy butter in bulk. Then freeze it in sealed foil and plastic. Kept this way butter can stay good for up to 12 months.

You can also clarify butter, essentially turning it into ghee. This can be canned and stored in a cool dark place for up to 2 years.

Continue reading our article on www.askaprepper.com.