Corn prices are up for various reasons, and that’s making it more expensive for meat producers to fatten the animals in feed lots. This should raise meat prices within the next few months, local experts agree.

The price of beef should go up noticeably within weeks due to a shortage of supply, they also said.

Dairy farmers, who have been hard hit by rising costs and lower profits for years, are especially hard hit, said Glen Brown, owner of Brown’s Dairy, the largest agricultural operation in Summit County.

Last June, he paid between $170 and $180 per ton of feed for his dairy cows. Right now the price is over $310.

“Has anybody else had a major input cost even close to that?” he asked. “Everything you feed an animal has gone up.”

Brown blames the increase in corn prices to ethanol. As gasoline prices are expected to rise, subsidies for growing corn for ethanol have been extended. In America, 40 percent of all corn grown goes to ethanol production, Brown said.

“The subsidy for ethanol is destroying this country,” he said.

East Side rancher Ken Woolstenhulme said beef prices right now are the highest he has ever seen in his life. He saw a calf sold last month for what he called a “ridiculous” price. The last pound of hamburger he sold at Ken’s Cash and Carry in Oakley two and a half years ago was $2.49. Right now hamburger meat is almost $4 per pound.

He’s heard ethanol blamed, but he said the real reason is a shortage of supply globally. The world herd is smaller than it should be.

“It’s hard to find calves to buy now, there’s not that many around,” he said.

What’s particularly strange, said East Side rancher Dave Ure, is that when the price of corn rises, feed lots pay ranchers less for the cattle because their costs go up. But the demand for beef is so high right now ranchers are getting a good price as well.

While people like Woolstenhulme who act as middlemen are also adversely affected by the price of feed, ranchers like himself and County Councilman Chris Robinson, who produce calves, are benefiting.

“My beef operation is subsidizing my dairy for the first time in 10 or 15 years,” Ure said.

The stock price for beef is the highest it’s been in his lifetime, he added.

If they haven’t already, he expects consumers to notice a difference in the grocery store in two or three months.

Robinson said experts are anticipating “favorable agricultural economics for awhile.”

“This could be a very good time to be in agriculture as we see the globalization of the market,” he said.

It’s important to think globally to understand what’s happening, he said.

The global herd is at an all-time low and America’s herd is likely at a 50-year low, but developing countries are eating more animal protein than ever, he said.

With the relative weakness of the dollar, American beef is now more affordable to developed countries like Japan, he said.

Additionally, because the world markets are emerging from a recession, demand for both beef and grains would be up anyway both domestically and internationally.

And then there’s the ethanol issue.

“It’s trite to say, but it’s a perfect storm,” Robinson said.

It’s tough to say what the impact on American consumers will be, they agreed, but with production costs going up 30 to 50 percent, there will be an impact.

Kevin Valaika, president of the Park City Area Restaurant Association, said people in his business can usually only absorb a two- to-three-percent increase in protein costs before they change menu prices.

Restaurateurs watch protein costs carefully, he added.

Jesse Schetler, manager at Butcher’s Chop House, said beef prices seem to always be on the rise. Buffalo meat has tripled in just a year and a half, he said. He hasn’t yet noticed a major difference in beef, but would have to change prices if it went up.

“It’s something we deal with all the time we have no choice,” he said.