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# GRAPHIC: Beef and pork producers are earning less while meat consumers are paying more than a year ago
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/graphic-beef-and-pork-producers-are-earning-less-while-meat-consumers-are-paying-more-than-a-year-ago/
- Published: 2022-06-30T14:24:44.000Z
- Updated: 2022-06-30T14:24:44.000Z
- Description: The situation might be due to fewer cows and hogs available available.
- Author: Kendall Little, Investigate Midwest
- Tags: Meat industry, Data Harvest, National, Consumer Price Index, TP::Explainer, graphic of the week, Pork, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

*Kendall Little is a Gary Marx Journalism Fund intern.*

While consumers are paying high prices for beef and pork at grocery stores, farmers producing the meat are making less than they were a year ago, according to [data](https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-price-outlook/?ref=investigatemidwest.org) collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The number of [cattle](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/content/files/downloads-usda-library-cornell-edu/usda-esmis/files/h702q636h/pn89f870n/jw828f69f/catl0122.pdf) and [hogs](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/content/files/www-nass-usda-gov/Publications/Todays%5FReports/reports/hgpg0921.pdf) have all fallen since 2021, according to the USDA, which may explain the increased consumer price. If the amount of product decreases but consumer demand stays the same, prices will [increase](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/content/files/www-imf-org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/suppdem.htm) for consumers.

***\[Read more: [A consolidated market leaves ranchers wondering what’s next](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/a-consolidated-market-leaves-ranchers-wondering-whats-next-2/)\]***

Also, producers have to go through a middleman — the meatpacking companies — instead of selling directly to consumers, which may limit the amount of profit they can make.

The Producer Price Index ([PPI](https://www.bls.gov/ppi/faqs/questions-and-answers.htm?ref=investigatemidwest.org)) measures the change in how much producers are making for their products over time while the Consumer Price Index ([CPI](https://www.bls.gov/cpi/questions-and-answers.htm?ref=investigatemidwest.org)) measures the change in how much consumers are paying for products.

The graph below shows the PPI and CPI percent changes from May 2021 to May 2022.

*Top image: photo by Shelby Tauber, for Investigate Midwest*