SANTA MARIA VALLEY - If you buy the groceries in your house then you know its costing more for your favorite steak.
Santa Maria shopper Julia Steele is splurging on steaks for supper.
"I need a treat tonight", Steele says after just getting off work, "I'm a nanny, I need a treat."
Beef is a treat these days with prices going up.
"It's cutting back on the amount of meat that we eat", Steele says.
Strong demand for American beef overseas coupled with a drop in the number of cattle raised and harvested is part of the reason.
The dry winter in California means there's less natural grasses for cattle to graze on which means cattle ranchers and farmers have to pay more to feed their livestock.
As a result of that rising demand the price for a bushel of hay is also soaring.
"We've bought about $18,000 dollars worth of hay in the last month and a half", says lifelong cattle rancher Roma Orvis, "we have to feed the cows."
Experts say while the number of cattle being raised is down the average weight and yield per head is up which is preventing beef prices from really taking off.
Allowing consumers like Julia Steele to enjoy a nice steak every now and then.
"If I'm going to have meat, I want a good quality beef that tastes good", Steele says.
The size of the total cattle herd in the United States is the lowest it's been in more than 50 years.
