By Gerson Freitas Jr., Bloomberg News

American beef lovers may face even leaner plates and higher prices next year as US production shrinks to a decade low and tariffs limit imports, according to a US government projection.

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Total beef supply in the US is expected to drop 2.5% in 2026 to 31.1 billion pounds — the lowest since 2019 — the US Department of Agriculture said in a monthly report. The decline threatens to push record beef prices even higher, with tariffs limiting importers’ ability to soften the blow.

US beef supplies have been constrained by a shrinking herd. For years, ranchers have been culling cows due to a combination of persistent drought and high costs, reducing the domestic inventory to its lowest level in several decades.

Record prices for slaughter-

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