Increasing Cattle Prices May Affect The Price of Your Next Steak Dinner

Cows are selling plenty fast here at the Abilene Livestock Auction. 

There's just one problem: there aren't enough to sell.

"Well it's about as bad as it's ever been," said Randy Carson, co-owner of the livestock auction.  

In fact, they're about 30,000 cattle short of what they normally would have to sell.  

It's been like this for the past year. 

Carson blames it one thing: not enough rain.

"It's not going to get any better until it rains," he said. 

So while business is good for Carson, there's just not enough product.  

"With our numbers being low they're (farmers) having to give more money for the cattle to stock the ranches," he said. 

So now a cow might sell for twice as much from the farm to your skillet.

Restaurant owners are starting to feel the brunt of the high demand for beef.

They're having to pay almost twice as much for their meat.

"I used to buy a loin, a rib-eye with the ribs on for my prime rib for approximately $90, you know so I was making profit, but the same loin, the same cut of beef, the same quality and everything now is $150," said Ali Esfandiary, who co-owns the Beehive restaurants in Abilene and Albany with his brother.  

It's starting to take it's toll on restaurants like the Beehive that are known for their steaks.

"It's really getting to be impossible," said Esfandiary. 

So owners like Esfandiary are having to change up the menu..

"For me to survive I do every night specials, perhaps chicken, perhaps pork," he said. 

Because until there's more rain, a piece of meat is becoming more rare than ever.

Carson says even if it does rain more this year, it should take at least a year for the industry to recover.