A bull market for cattle has created a bit of a bum steer for Lawrence beef consumers, Lawrence grocers said Friday.

Shawn Brown, manager of the Hy-Vee Food and Drug Store at 4000 W. Sixth St., said the store’s beef prices had been on the rise since the beginning of summer as a result of higher cattle prices.

“I know they are a lot higher than they have been in a long time,” Brown said.

Jim Lewis, owner of Checkers, 2300 La., said the price increases had been significant in the past month. He said wholesale prices for ground beef had increased 12 percent, rump roasts 23 percent, and the cut that produces round steak 19 percent.

Lewis said the higher prices had led more customers to buy chicken, which has increased the price of chicken.

The wholesale price of boneless chicken breasts increased 9 percent in the last month, he said.

Lewis said that he had seen several spikes in beef prices through the years, but that this one was unique.

“They’ve been higher than this before, but I haven’t seen some of these prices stay this high for this long,” Lewis said. “It’s been this way for several months now. Let’s just all hope the farmer is doing well off of this.”