Mark McCully of Certified Angus Beef talks with Andy Hanacek

Beef Products Inc. (BPI) finds itself providing a much-needed product to the beef supply chain.

Many external forces, from droughts and other natural disasters to rising corn prices, have greatly impacted the price of beef in recent years.

Eleven to one—those were the odds the beef industry was up against for two decades.

As the drought in Texas worsens, more and more ranchers are sending their cattle to slaughterhouses earlier than normal, due to the rising costs of trucking in hay from other states. As a result, the increase in beef supplies may lead to decreased costs for retail beef in the fall and winter, says the USDA.

Beef prices around the world will steady in the midterm, though a further significant price increase could trigger substitution with other meats, according to Rabobank's Q2 2011 Beef Quarterly Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) report.