BILLINGS - It was the day before Christmas and all down the street, people lined up to go buy their meat.Watch how one Billings butcher keeps up with demand during the holidays: Billings butcher holds the line for Christmas as b eef prices nationwide"I got 14 tenderloins for dinner this evening," said Ryan Venable, a Billings man in line to buy a main course on Wednesday."Me and my family chose to go with some oxtails," said Darrell Brewer, another Billings resident heading home from the butcher.Jason McKittrick owns Meat Palace in Billings and has had a line out the door in recent days. While his customers look forward to this time of year, he says he can't wait for the rush to be over."I'm ready for this time of year to be over. It's just real busy with early mornings for me. I'm here at five and don't leave till 9 o'clock most nights," said McKittrick.While some people opt for a turkey or a ham, it's one cut of meat that generally steals the show this time of yearThat would be the prime rib, a staple of many Christmas meals. But that chunk of meat could cost a lot more this year."We're at a 50-60 year low on head count on beef in the United States right now," said McKittrick. "So if you're wanting beef, don't expect it to go down anytime soon. It's going to hold right there or even climb a little bit more still."Beef prices are up around 15% compared to last Christmas, but at Meat Palace, planning ahead really paid off, and customers appreciate it."I have a supplier that I pay early in the year to get a price set, and it locks me in pretty good. So it's the only reason we're at where we are. I'm not a grocery store. I can't lose money on my meat and make it up somewhere else, but our price is exactly the same as it was last year," said McKittrickBut it takes more than beef to make the meal; some vegetables like sweet potatoes are up 37% as food overall has risen by 2.6%, according to the American Farm Bureau and the Consumer Price Index.Shoppers said they've noticed some prices creeping up, but not enough to change their holiday meal traditions.But a few shoppers said they haven't made many changes to their menu."Depending on where you're shopping, but for the most part this is the best place to be," Brewer said."Not really, I mean, I eat, I like to eat well as you can tell," said Dennis Roberts, bringing home steak for dinner."Nothing that kept us from buying anything. We're going to make sure that we have plenty of meat for Christmas dinner," Venable said.McKittrick also says he has seen minimal changes in popular purchases."I haven't seen a real drop in it. Maybe size-wise people are cutting back a little bit, but that's about it," he said. ...read more read less