Will ground beef hit __ in 2026?$7.000+

Americans are paying nearly 8% more for ground beef than they were a year ago. • • The average price of ground beef reached $7.15 per pound in August 2026, up from $6.63 a year earlier, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. • • Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says the USDA is working to protect ranchers and rebuild the domestic herd. She pointed to a 3% increase in young female cattle being kept for breeding, the first increase in a decade, as an encouraging sign. • • Download the FOX News app to follow this developing story:

Let them eat eggs: the head of the US Department of Agriculture was criticized after advising people to replace expensive beef with other products. As The Independent notes, in August, the average price of ground beef in the US was $7.16 per pound (about 454 g) compared to $6.63 a year earlier. Brooke Rollins herself admitted that the products remain too expensive, but stated that the administration is working to reduce prices. "More people are eating beef now than ever before, but if it's too expensive, you can eat chicken, pork, salmon, eggs," she said. Rollins' advice was met with harsh criticism on social media. Users accused the minister of being out of touch with reality and recalled the cuts in food assistance to Americans under the SNAP program. Donald Trump himself has also publicly admitted that beef prices are too high. Last month, he announced that the US would allow duty-free imports of up to 331,000 tonnes of ground beef at below-market prices over the next 90 days, The Independent reports. More IZ RU news in MAX