Beef and pork futures prices have been declining due to the likely sharp drop in economic growth. On a cost per calorie basis, beef can be five times as expensive as eggs, and pork can be three times as expensive as wheat bread. On a world-wide basis, beef consumption is more influenced by GDP change than is chicken or pork.  In some countries, poultry is substituted for beef when income declines, and in others the default is pork. Chinese consumers are five times more sensitive to GDP changes and their pork consumption than are Americans. During the Great Recession, global beef consumption dropped for two years in a row, pork consumption declined for one year, and the growth in poultry demand slowed. It is unclear at this juncture ho...

TAGS – Livestock, China, North America