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Burger lovers take warning: neighborhood cookouts could be more expensive this summer, thanks to conflict in the Middle East.
Global tensions are pushing up energy prices, resulting in higher costs for beef and the propane used to fuel backyard grills — just in time for Americans getting ready for barbecue season.
“The impact of ongoing challenges in the Middle East on energy prices impacts nearly every facet of the U.S. economy and beef-cattle are not immune,” Glynn Tonsor, a professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University, told Fox News Digital.
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A decrease in ranching and rising propane and fuel prices are all contributing to an uptick in the cost of Americans’ backyard barbecue. (Jonne Roriz/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Ranchers rely on energy at nearly every step of their process, from fueling tractors in the field to using trucks to transport cattle, and those higher costs are often passed on to consumers, Tonsor explained.
Those pressures are showing up at the pump. The national average for a gallon of gas now stands at approximately $4.09, up roughly 93 cents from just one month ago, according to AAA, with costs climbing across nearly every region.
Diesel, a key fuel for freight and shipping, has climbed to $5.61, up about $2.03 over the past year, making it more expensive to move cattle and beef across the country.
The ripple effects go far beyond beef.
Propane, the fuel powering many backyard grills, is also getting more expensive as global energy markets tighten, in part, because countries in the Middle East are such major suppliers to the world.
U.S. propane prices at the Mont Belvieu hub, the industry benchmark for this type of power, have surged nearly 19% since the conflict began in late February.
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But higher energy costs are only part of the…
