• In-n-Out has announced that it is expanding to a new state - New Mexico.
But don't place your order for a Double-Double-Animal-Style just yet. The first store, planned for Albuquerque, won't open until 2027.
In-n-Out said that its presence in New Mexico will place it "fully in the Four Corners," serving the states of Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. The expansion was made possible by a distribution center in Colorado Springs, the company said.
• From the Financial Times:
"Beef prices in the US have climbed to record highs as droughts in the south and west fuel higher feed costs and force ranchers to cut the national cattle herd size to a 61-year low. Average prices of beef sold in US shops and supermarkets have risen to about $8 per pound, topping their previous high of $7.90 reached during the pandemic, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Live cattle prices in Chicago are also close to a record, at $1.79 per pound, compared with $1.50 this time last year.
"But ranchers, who would normally thrive on record prices, are instead worried that the prices reflect a growing crisis: years of drought or low rainfall in prime cattle-raising land that is turning green pastures into dust fields.
"Last year scientists said the western US was facing the worst dry spell seen in 1,200 years. More than a third of the lower forty-eight states are still in drought as of October 31, according to the US Drought Monitor."
