It’s set to be a nice weekend for a barbecue, but if you're planning on throwing some meat on the grill, be ready to reach deep into your pocket.

Beef and pork prices are on the way up and the price to grill your favourite cut of meat is increasing.

Shoppers are already noticing the mark up.

“It's actually getting really expensive and is becoming difficult to afford right now,” says Will Collins.

According to Statistics Canada, meat prices are up across the board since April 2013.

When it comes to beef, the cost of a sirloin steak and prime rib are both up by more than about $2 compared to last year.  Ground beef is also $1 more per kilo.

“I've never seen beef prices escalate as they have,” says butcher Lawrence Vindum.

He’s paying an extra $2,000 on beef products to supply his customers. He's been in the business 25 years and has never seen prices this high so early.

“We're seeing mid-summer pricing already,” he says.

There are a number of reasons for the mark up and it can be traced back to the source: the cow herd.

Cattle farmer James Greaves says it’s an issue of supply and demand, as many cattle farmers have made the switch to cash crops.

“They may have closed their farm altogether or got rid of their cattle and have moved into cash cropping because it has being paying the bills,” he says.

A drought in the US has also forced many cattle ranchers to quit the business and the rising cost of feed for livestock isn't helping either.

Kevin Grier, a market analyst, says misguided moves by the US and Canadian governments to subsidise the use of corn products into ethanol caused grain products to explode.

Pork products are also up thanks in part to a virus that wiped out millions piglets across North America.

In turn, pork chops will also cost you an extra $2 and bacon has increased by more than eight per cent and hot dogs are up slightly.

Vindum expects prices to soar again by mid-summer.

“As supplies go down they're not being replenished. We'll see some dramatic increases in prices,” he says.

The cost of doing business has also increased for farmers like Greaves, but there is a silver lining.

“There are few of us left and if people want what we were growing, we can find a way to make it as affordable as possible and still sustain the farm for generations to come,” he says.

Some analyst say people should expect meat prices to remain high for the next year or two because it could take farmers that long to increase production in order to meet the demand.