Beef distributors say we are facing one of the worst meat shortages of the past century. And popular steakhouses are resorting to fish and chicken “specials” on their menus to weather the storm.

If you haven’t noticed by now, the cost of beef is soaring through the roof as the summer demand for red meat far exceeds the national supply. Prime grade beef has become particularly scarce as suppliers throughout the country are killing off their cattle 90-100 days earlier than they normally would.

On average, the cows weigh less than 700 pounds when they enter the slaughterhouses — too slim to yield those coveted, Prime-grade steaks sold mainly in expensive restaurants and select meat markets. But the shortage has resulted in exorbitant price increases for Choice and USDA (a.k.a. “road kill”) cuts of beef as well, which rank among the most popular grades at the consumer level.

“Choice filet has gone up $3 a pound,” exclaims Dan Glenn, manager of Iowa Meat Farms in Mission Gorge. “We still carry Prime, but don’t sell a lot of it because it’s way up there in price right now.”

As of last week, the cost of Prime New York steak at Iowa was tagged at $18.99 a pound.

At Rainwater Restaurant on Kettner Street, where high-end beef comprises over half the menu, a 12-ounce Prime New York Strip sells for $32. “We’re paying about 10 percent more for Prime right now,” notes Laurel Rainwater, the restaurant’s owner. “But we are fortunate to have entered a fixed price agreement with our distributor for the next year. We’re in the minority of restaurants that offer Prime beef right now as most of them have switched over to Choice.”

But Rainwater admits that he’s needed to “tighten his belt” nonetheless by selling more non-beef items such as fish and chicken. “If all you sell is beef, then you’re in trouble.”

Perhaps the rarest cuts of steak right now are the well-marbled Prime Certified Angus Beef (CAB) filets, which Croce’s Restaurant downtown has managed to keep on its menu.

“We continue to survive the crisis only as a result of our supplier relationships and our willingness to pay any price for getting the product,” said a restaurant spokesperson, adding that the restaurant bought the last box of CAB filets last week from its supplier. “And the price we’re paying for Choice beef is now the price we used to pay for Prime.”

The reasons for the current shortage stem from last year’s drought in the Midwest, which prompted a money-saving reaction among cattle growers to liquidate their herds before they fully mature. And the moratorium on Canadian beef, due to mad cow disease, has only exacerbated the situation, considering that the country previously contributed nine percent to the U.S. beef supply.

“I don’t see an end in sight,” adds Glenn. “These price increases are legitimate this time around. Transportation costs are up. The size of cattle herds is way down. And we’re sliding into the summer barbecue season.”

Matt Pollock of Stock Yards Packing in Chicago agrees: “There has never been a period of time in the history of the cattle business where grading levels have been so low. If cattle feeders continue to sell off their animals too early, then there’s no chance of the market improving for consumers.”