Beef and pork prices have risen dramatically in recent years and meat lovers can expect to pay even more for their favourite choice cuts as ethanol policies and rising export demands put pressure on the market.

Over the past 10 years, beef prices have risen by roughly 26 per cent, and pork prices have gone up by 14 per cent, said Al Mussell, a senior research associate at the George Morris Centre in Guelph and president of the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society.

Mussell, who has co-authored a new report on the subject, said a number of factors have contributed to drive up the price.

"There's been a lot of growth in export demand, especially demand in Southeast Asia, general inflation, and one of the things we focused on which has been very important is the increase to grain costs to feed the animals, so that's been a big factor," he told CTV's Canada AM.

The price of animal feed has gone up, he said, largely due to the demand for corn and wheat to make ethanol.

In recent years governments have mandated that gasoline must be blended with a certain percentage of ethanol in order to reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

In the U.S., 40 per cent of the nation's corn crop is now being used for ethanol production. In Ontario that number is 30 per cent -- an increase of 10 per cent from a decade ago, Mussell said.

Mussell said the U.S. requires a 10 per cent blend of ethanol in its gasoline, while Canada requires 5 per cent.

The measure has created a drain on the corn and wheat supply in North America, which in turn has driven up feed costs for ranchers.

It's simple supply and demand, Mussell said.

"When we create policy that creates this new demand for corn to make ethanol it increases the price of corn over time. That increases the farmer's cost, they have to cut back on production to meet that, and as a result we get higher meat prices."

In his report, Mussell said government ethanol policies have effectively created an entirely new market for feed grains -- to the detriment of the beef and pork industries.

He estimates the Canadian industry, which employs 100,000 people, is losing roughly $130 million per year as a result of the policies.

"In the U.S. for example, in the mid- to late 2000s, the U.S. government increased the mandated use of ethanol to 10 per cent from 5 per cent," states Mussell's report.

"The near immediate impact was a surge in U.S. grain corn prices from a long-term normal level of $2 to $3 per bushel to between $5 and $7 per bushel from 2007-2011."

Corn also increased in price by roughly $2 per bushel or about 40 per cent, the report said.

"Given that corn is the primary feedstock of the livestock industry, this eventually helped to contribute to soaring meat prices as well as dramatic increases in other foods such as vegetables."

Unless the ethanol content required in gasoline changes in Canada and the U.S., Mussell said meat prices can be expected to continue to rise in the coming years -- particularly if ethanol blending requirements rise to 10 per cent in Canada, as some advocates hope.