美国国家公共电台 NPR--Beef prices are down right now. But that may not last

Beef prices are down right now. But that may not last

Transcript¹

Steak prices have decreased as meatpackers processed more beef. But drought-stricken cattle ranchers are having to cut their herds³, which is likely to lead to higher beef prices in the future.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Supermarket shoppers are seeing something unusual these days, discounts in the meat department. Steak prices have actually fallen in each of the last three months. But as NPR's Scott Horsley reports, bargain beef may not last.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁴: My neighborhood Safeway is advertising⁵ top sirloin this week for 4.99 a pound. Steak prices have come down from a year ago, even as the cost of chicken, pork and most other groceries has gone up. Those falling beef prices are a welcome development for shoppers, but there's a painful story behind them, severe drought that's affecting about 60% of the nation's cattle. Drought-stricken ranchers are being forced to slaughter⁶ some of their livestock⁷ early, which means more steak in the supermarket and a temporary drop in prices. Brady Blackett raises Angus beef at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains in south central Utah, where, thanks in part to a changing climate, the winter snowpack has been way down. The grazing land where Blackett's animals spend the summer is bone dry.

BRADY BLACKETT: The cattle have to travel miles and miles each day in, you know, 100-degree weather to get back out to where there's adequate enough forage⁸. So it's tough. Over the last couple of summers, we've actually had to haul water to the cattle because the springs just aren't producing enough water to keep up.

HORSLEY: Ordinarily Blackett relies on runoff from the mountains to irrigate⁹ the alfalfa he feeds his cattle in the wintertime. This year, he's having to use groundwater for irrigation. And he knows that's not sustainable.

BLACKETT: It's not looking good for the future unless we're able to get some moisture and pull ourselves out of this drought.

HORSLEY: John O'Dea runs a ranch² in southwest Nebraska. He didn't even bother planting hay on some of his land this year because he knew it was too dry to grow.

JOHN O'DEA: At our ranch, we've gotten two decent rains in the last 14 months.

HORSLEY: With grain prices also high, ranchers are opting¹⁰ to send some of their cattle to slaughter early rather than bear the cost of keeping them fed all winter.

O'DEA: We've liquidated¹¹ part of our cows. And a lot of neighbors have liquidated anywhere from 20 to 60% of their cattle herds to try and get as much to go through the drought as possible.

HORSLEY: That's produced a temporary glut¹² of beef and lower prices at the supermarket. But the savings¹³ for consumers may be short-lived. In a sign of ranchers' desperation, many of the slaughtered¹⁴ animals are breeding females, cows and heifers. So Wesley Tucker, who's a field specialist at the University of Missouri Extension, warns the next generation of cattle will be smaller.

WESLEY TUCKER: Life has very few guarantees. But a cow or heifer that is slaughtered this year is guaranteed not to calf¹⁵ next year. So that means there's lower animals coming down the line and less beef production in the future.

HORSLEY: Ranchers have lived through this cycle before. A severe drought a decade ago led to a similar downsizing of herds and, ultimately, higher prices. That's an incentive¹⁶ for ranchers to try to hang on to at least some of their cattle. But Tucker worries even if beef prices rebound¹⁷, it may not be enough to offset¹⁸ the rising cost of things like diesel¹⁹ fuel and fertilizer.

TUCKER: I don't think the price of a tractor is going to go back down next year just because our weather improves.

HORSLEY: John O'Dea keeps checking the weather forecast at his Nebraska ranch. So far, there's no sign of improvement on the horizon.

O'DEA: Basically, what we're doing now is trying to figure out how we're going to manage for next season because we know this season's a bust²⁰. I would bet that our first moisture will be blizzards²¹ this winter, the way it's looking right now. It's definitely a struggle (laughter). And we're dang sure not getting rich out here.

HORSLEY: Something to think about when you put that sale-price steak in your shopping cart.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

3 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

7 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

8 forage   

n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻

参考例句：

• They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel.他们不得不去寻找衣服和燃料。
• Now the nutritive value of the forage is reduced.此时牧草的营养价值也下降了。

9 irrigate   

vt.灌溉，修水利，冲洗伤口，使潮湿

参考例句：

• The farmer dug several trenches to irrigate the rice fields.这个农民挖了好几条沟以灌溉稻田。
• They have built canals to irrigate the desert.他们建造成水渠以灌溉沙漠。

10 opting   

v.选择，挑选( opt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• What courses are most students opting for? 多数学生选什么课程？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Wells doesn't rule out opting out and then re-signing with Houston. 威尔斯没有排除跳出合同再与火箭重签的可能。 来自互联网

11 liquidated   

v.清算( liquidate的过去式和过去分词 )；清除（某人）；清偿；变卖

参考例句：

• All his supporters were expelled, exiled, or liquidated. 他的支持者全都被驱逐、流放或消灭了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That can be liquidated at market value any time. 那可按市价随时得到偿付。 来自辞典例句

12 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。

13 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

14 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

16 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

17 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

18 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

19 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

20 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

21 blizzards   

暴风雪( blizzard的名词复数 )； 暴风雪似的一阵，大量（或大批）

参考例句：

• Even in the summertime we might be struck by blizzards. 甚至在夏天，我们也可能受到暴风雪的袭击。
• Blizzards battered Britain for the third day. 大风雪袭击英国已进入第三天。