It’s never been so expensive for Americans to buy a steak or hamburger, but cutting those costs requires ranchers like to raise more cattle — and that’s not an easy ask. (AP Video: Jack Dura, Eugene Garcia, Manuel Valdes) Cattle roam on a hillside at sunrise on the Diamond W Cattle Company ranch in Palmdale, Calif., Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Stephanie Hatzenbuhler stands with her cows on March 31, 2026, on her family’s Diamond J Angus Ranch near Mandan, N.D.
Main Idea: Stephanie Hatzenbuhler and other ranchers are unlikely to expand cattle herds quickly, which is helping keep beef prices high across the U.S.
Key Points:
Beef stays expensive for households, raising grocery bills for steak, hamburger, and restaurant meals.
Higher prices can help ranchers like Stephanie Hatzenbuhler stay afloat and keep rural cattle businesses going.
Rate how each entity in this article affected the American people.
Central rancher whose herd decisions and comments anchor the article about beef supply and prices.
Named farm organization whose economist is quoted explaining herd expansion constraints.
Named processors’ trade group responding to claims about concentration and pricing, but mainly as a quoted background voice.
Ranch owner shown and mentioned as part of the article’s ranching examples, but not a central decision-maker in.
Institution tied to a livestock marketing specialist quoted on cattle production trends.
Institution tied to an extension feedlot specialist quoted on the border closure’s effects.
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