• Burger Business, Monday, July 23, 2012 9:55 AM

Higher food prices seem a certain result of the drought that has parched about one-third of the U.S. How high prices might go, which proteins will see the sharpest gains and when operators and consumers will feel the impact are the key questions, and there are disagreements and conflicting forecasts. Should burger-concept operators be concerned or just wait it out? BurgerBusiness.com asked Christopher A. Hurt, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., to provide an in-a-nutshell assessment of the damage so far and to predict the impact on prices. Conditions could change, but at this point his forecast isn’t encouraging, especially for burger and steak concepts.

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