Retail ground beef prices fell in September 2026 for the first time in months. On the Bureau of Labor Statistics series this site has been tracking, all uncooked ground beef averaged $7.062 a pound, down 1.3% from August’s record $7.16. On the narrower 100%-beef series the September average was $6.792, down from $6.923 in August and up from $6.323 a year earlier. Both are given here because national coverage quotes one or the other; they are different series, not conflicting figures. The monthly decline was the largest since 2024, and prices remain near record levels. Average steak prices fell about 1%, to roughly $12.69 a pound, a second consecutive monthly decline.
Prices paid to producers moved much further. A Farm Action analysis of USDA data covering the 30 days after imported beef began arriving under the expanded tariff-rate quota found prices for two categories of cows sold into the ground beef market down 12.2% and 13.9%. Over the same period, retail ground beef fell about 2%, or 13 cents a pound.
Sarah Carden of Farm Action said “the first 30 days raise serious questions about whether this policy is actually delivering on its promises,” while also saying it is unclear whether the announcement itself or the arriving beef drove the early move. Kenny Burdine, an agricultural economist at the University of Kentucky, concluded in an Oct. 1 analysis that the drop in cattle prices exceeded normal seasonal swings. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the president is “delivering on his promise to consumers by reducing beef prices while allowing our American beef herd to grow.”
The causation is contested and the sample is thin. Fewer than 40% of the first 100,000-ton batch had arrived by the end of September, and September is a seasonally weak month for cull cow prices. Nick Levendofsky of the Kansas Farmers Union said producers’ concerns are input costs, tariffs and imports together: “I think all of these things compounded have really put farmers in a very difficult situation.”
August’s figure and the herd arithmetic behind it are in ground beef hits $7.16 a pound, and the quota itself was reported when the White House added 300,000 tons of quota beef trimmings. What buying by the share costs instead is in what a quarter cow actually costs in Southern California, and the same price measured in hours worked is in the time price of food.
Why this matters for SoCal: A thirteen-cent move at the counter against a twelve-percent move at the ranch is the arithmetic behind buying a share directly from a producer rather than at retail.
Sources: U.S. Ground Beef Prices Fell 1.3% in September to $7.06 a Pound — TokenPost, Oct. 17, 2026 · 30 Days After Increased Beef Imports, US Ranchers Are Getting Paid Less for Cattle — Civil Eats, Oct. 14, 2026 · Average Price: Ground Beef, 100% Beef, per Pound — FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis