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As summer grilling season kicks off, Americans may be in for a costly surprise at the meat counter.
Beef prices are climbing — and the latest government data confirms it. According to the Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. beef and veal prices have jumped 8.6% over the past year. Ground beef surged 9.9%, beef roasts rose 9.5% and beef steaks were up 6.3%.
Omaha Steaks President and CEO Nate Rempe says the problem boils down to supply.
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“The number of head of cattle in the United States is at a low, really not seen since the 1950s. In fact, it’s wild,” Rempe recently told Fox Business.
As of Jan. 1, 2025, there were 86.7 million head of cattle and calves on U.S. farms, according to the Department of Agriculture — the lowest count since 1951.
With domestic beef demand still strong, Rempe warned that tight supply is “putting a lot of upward pressure” on prices — and it won’t be resolved overnight.
“Supply is a tricky issue. You can’t just flip a switch [or] adjust a tariff. We need to rebuild the herd, and that’s going to happen over the next roughly 12 months. My guess is by Q3 [20]26 we’ll kind of start to come out of this,” he said in the interview with Fox.
Beef isn’t the only grocery item getting more expensive. The food index from the CPI has surged 26% over the past five years, and the USDA expects food prices to rise another 2.9% in 2025.
To be sure, headline inflation has cooled from its 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022. But the cost of essentials like food and housing remains persistently high.
Fortunately, history has shown that savvy investors and consumers can take steps to protect themselves from inflation’s impact.
Real estate
When inflation rises, property values often increase as well, reflecting the higher costs of materials, labor and land. At the same time, rental income tends to go up, providing landlords with a revenue stream that adjusts for inflation.
This combination makes real estate an attractive option for preserving and growing wealth when the U.S. dollar is losing its value.
Over the last five years, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index has surged by more than 50%.
Of course, high home prices can make buying a home more challenging, especially with mortgage rates still elevated. And being a landlord isn’t exactly hands-off work. Managing tenants, maintenance and repairs can quickly eat into your time (and returns). The good news? You don’t need to buy a property outright — or deal with leaky faucets — to invest in real estate today.
For accredited investors, Homeshares gives access to the $35 trillion U.S. home equity market, which has historically been the exclusive playground of institutional investors.
With a minimum investment of $25,000, investors can gain direct exposure to hundreds of owner-occupied homes in top U.S. cities through their U.S. Home Equity Fund — without the headaches of buying, owning or managing property.
With risk-adjusted target returns ranging from 14% to 17%, this approach provides an effective, hands-off way to invest in owner-occupied residential properties across regional markets.
If you’re not an accredited investor, crowdfunding platforms like Arrived allow you to enter the real estate market for as little as $100.
Arrived offers you access to shares of SEC-qualified investments in rental homes and vacation rentals, curated and vetted for their appreciation and income potential.
Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived makes it easy to fit these properties into your investment portfolio regardless of your income level. Their flexible investment amounts and simplified process allows accredited and non-accredited investors to take advantage of this inflation-hedging asset class without any extra work on your part.
Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it
Gold
Gold has helped preserve wealth for thousands of years — and it remains just as relevant today, especially in the face of modern inflation.
One key reason? Unlike fiat currency, gold can’t be created out of thin air by central banks.
It’s also long been viewed as a classic safe haven. Gold isn’t tied to any one country, currency or economy, and in times of economic turmoil or geopolitical uncertainty, investors often flock to it — driving prices higher.
Over the past 12 months, the price of the precious metal has surged by more than 40%.
Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, recently highlighted gold’s importance as part of a resilient portfolio.
“People don’t have, typically, an adequate amount of gold in their portfolio,” he told CNBC in February. “When bad times come, gold is a very effective diversifier.”
One way to invest in gold that also provides significant tax advantages is to open a gold IRA with the help of Priority Gold.
Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, thereby combining the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold, making it an option for those looking to help shield their retirement funds against economic uncertainties.
When you make a qualifying purchase with Priority Gold, you can receive up to $10,000 in precious metals for free.
Farmland
The steady rise in food prices serves as a powerful reminder: no matter what happens in the economy, people still need to eat.
That’s why farmland is considered a natural hedge against inflation. As food prices climb, so does the value of the land that produces it. At the same time, farmland is a tangible, income-generating asset that isn’t directly tied to the ups and downs of financial markets.
According to the USDA, U.S. farmland values have steadily climbed over the past few decades, driven by increasing demand for food and limited supply of arable land.
These days, you don’t need to buy an entire farm or know how to grow crops to get in on the opportunity.
FarmTogether is an all-in-one investment platform that lets qualified investors buy stakes in U.S. farmland. The platform identifies high-potential agricultural properties and then partners with experienced local operators to manage the land effectively.
Depending on the type of stake you want, you can potentially get a cut from both the leasing fees and crop sales. Then, years down the line, you can benefit from appreciation and profit from its sale.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
