Get ready to pay more for your steak

The drought that's spreading across the Midwest is already squeezing consumers, and it's only going to get worse, as the rising cost of soybeans and corn leads to higher prices for meat, peanut butter and other staples.

The price of ground beef could rise to about $2.88 per pound this year, a 4% jump from last year, when the average price per pound was $2.77, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And if you want steak, get ready to pay 25 cents more per pound for sirloin, with the average price rising to $6.47.

Meat prices had already been moving higher, even before the drought took hold. The price of sirloin steak rose more than 15% between June 2011 and June 2012, while ground beef rose more than 8% and chicken prices increased more than 6%, according to the BLS. Beef prices may react a bit more slowly to the drought as ranchers work to manage their cattle inventory. Read more >>