A recent Farm Credit Canada report suggests there's a difference between Canadian beef consumption and demand.
Economist Desmond Sobool defines demand as the willingness of consumers to pay a specific price for beef, given their tastes, preferences and income.
Sobool's team has been developing a demand index, based on work that has been done at the University of Missouri.
That index tries to measure the strength of consumer demand for beef - once changes in the price of beef, other meats and income are all accounted for.
Based on their work so far, Sobool says Canadians preferences for beef a showing signs of strength.
That's despite the fact Canadians consumed nearly 22 pounds less of beef a year in 2013 compared to what they were eating in the early 1980's.
The FCC economist suggests that will help support the Canadian beef industry.
Sobool says one of the challenges ahead will be to sustain that recent strong positive consumer response to high beef prices in 2015.
