--- title: Fire Up the Grill, Your Barbecue Season Just Got Cheaper description: Cattle herds are larger than they've been since 2011, and beef prices are dropping as chicken prices rise. authors: - name: Ethan Wolff-Mann url: https://money.com/author/ethan-wolff-mann/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 160 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/ewolffmann former_staff: true published: '2016-03-28T16:56:48.000Z' modified: '2016-03-28T16:56:48.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - beef - Food & Drink - food industry - groceries - pubdesk - restaurants word_count: 252 canonical: https://money.com/beef-prices-decrease-meat-barbecue/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Making a Korean Bulgogi burger from grass fed beef](https://img.money.com/2016/03/gettyimages-486092086.jpg) A few times a year, beef's dietary effects are publicly weighed, and everyone is confused. In the *New York Times* the following pieces appeared in 2015: red meat [is bad for you](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/health/report-links-some-types-of-cancer-with-processed-or-red-meat.html); red meat "[is not the enemy](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/31/upshot/red-meat-is-not-the-enemy.html)"; and "[red meat is still not the enemy](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/upshot/know-your-risks-but-meat-still-isnt-the-enemy.html)." It's hard to keep up. Regardless of where the experts come down on this issue, come summertime 2016, one thing is clear: Beef is going to be much cheaper. This year cattle supply is especially large—bigger than it's been since 2011, according to [USDA data](http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/results/76EE7215-CCA6-3587-A5D2-5ECCEAD31982). [Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-28/red-meat-it-s-what-s-for-dinner-again-as-beef-prices-tumble) notes that because of this increased supply, analysts are projecting lower beef prices this year. Prices have already been falling--down 7% year over year in February for ground beef, for instance--and the expectation is that prices will keep decreasing even though demand will likely be higher than it's been since 2006, a year the "Beef, It's What's For Dinner" campaign won a few advertising awards. As a result, national restaurants like Chili's and Texas Roadhouse are adding meaty menu items and promotions because their beef costs are so low. [![Best college education image](https://content.money.com/wp-content/themes/money2018/img/college-site-banner-02.png)](https://best-colleges.time.com/money/search-colleges/?xid=cm-mcpFindTheCollegeWidget) Still, chicken, turkey, and pork will continue to outpace beef this year in terms of sales. And even though beef consumption is on the upswing, Americans are still eating significantly less red meat than the beef heyday of the '70s. 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