Why are US beef prices soaring due to trade tensions and disease?

Beef prices in the US are going up because trade tensions and a disease are making it harder to get enough beef.

Imagine you're at a toy store, and you love a special kind of action figure, let's say Super Dragon Warriors. But suddenly, the main supplier of these figures decides they can't send them to your store anymore because of a fight. That’s like trade tensions, countries are not getting along, so fewer beef shipments come into the US from places like Brazil and Australia, where they make lots of beef.

Now imagine that some of the Super Dragon Warriors got hurt by a virus, maybe Dragon Flu, and couldn’t fight anymore. That’s like a disease in cattle, called foot-and-mouth disease. It makes cows sick, so farmers can't send their beef to other countries.

With fewer action figures (or beef) coming in, the store has to raise prices for you, just like stores have to raise beef prices when there's less of it around.

So now, people who love Super Dragon Warriors (or beef) have to pay more, and that’s why US beef prices are going up!