How Beef Got So Expensive
6/10/202621 min
In the era of the $100 steak, WSJ reporter Patrick Thomas traveled from a steakhouse in Omaha to a manure-splattered cattle auction in the Nebraska sandhills. What he found was a story about drought, debt and a stunning reversal of fortune that has left America's ranchers holding more power than they've had in decades. Ryan Knutson hosts. Further Listening: - The Beef Between Cattle Ranchers and Meatpackers
- How Scotts Miracle-Gro's Weed Business Went Up in Smoke Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsRyan Knutson· Host0:00
[suspenseful music] [cutlery clinking] Omaha, Nebraska, six o'clock dinner reservation. The Thomas family, party of six, is settling into one of the great old-school steakhouses in the Midwest. [upbeat music] It's the kind of place with low lighting and heavy chairs. The room smells like brown butter and seared beef fat.
Patrick Thomas0:28
It's old-timey. It's kinda got the wooden exterior. The floors are creaking when you walk in.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:34
That's our colleague, Patrick Thomas, as in the Thomas family, party of six.
Patrick Thomas0:40
You've kind of got that, uh, brassy Sinatra type of music, old world type of steakhouse.
Speaker 20:47
I'm gonna go from the most tender all the way up to our most heavily marbled cut. So our most tender cut here will be the filet.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:54
So what brought you to that steakhouse in Nebraska?
Patrick Thomas0:57
My family still lives out there. My brother was actually graduating high school.
Ryan Knutson· Host1:02
Oh, wow, congratulations.
Speaker 31:03
Cheers.
Patrick Thomas1:04
Ryan's grad- Ry Grad. Ryan's graduation.
Ryan Knutson· Host1:07
I heard his name is Ryan.
Patrick Thomas1:08
It's another Ryan.
Ryan Knutson· Host1:10
What a great name.
Speaker 31:11
As good as they feel.
Patrick Thomas1:12
[upbeat music] How's your steak?
Speaker 21:21
My steak's delicious. Um, very tender and juicy.
Ryan Knutson· Host1:25
Oh.
Speaker 21:26
But a little bit- But while the steak was delicious, the price