Additional reporting by Katie Behr, Clear Lake Mirror Reporter
As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, its impact on the food chain is becoming more apparent. Empty grocery store shelves have greeted U.S. consumers, perhaps for the first time in their lifetimes.
The temporary closure of meat packing plants has caused a serious disruption in the farm to fork supply chain. Over two weeks ago, President Trump issued an Executive Order that meatpackers remain open as part of critical infrastructure. Even so, each plant is making their own decisions, with many remaining closed in response to workers testing positive for the virus, absenteeism, and complex guidance measures in place for operation. Consequently, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, for the week ending on May 9, meat production including beef, veal, pork and lamb was down 31% from the same time the previous year,
As with other items, such as toilet paper and hand sanitizer, consumers began to buy more meat to “stock up,” leading to less availability of meat already processed and packed for delivery to the end consumer. This has resulted in meat rationing across the country. Hy-Vee, Costco and Sam’s Club all announced that they are limiting meat purchases for the foreseeable future.
More locally, rationing measures haven’t been extreme, but the pinch is being felt. Jacob Putney, Assistant Manager at Brothers Market in Clarion, said they are just starting to see the trickle-down effect of the meat woes now. He admits that prices have gone way up on the supplier end. He estimates that the price of pork has doubled while the price of beef has tripled. Putney adds that his meat manager says he’s never seen prices so high.
Putney adds that this can’t help but have an impact on consumers. “We want to keep prices the same,” he notes, but it really isn’t possible as they have to make up for the rising costs that they pay. Brothers has not resorted to limiting customers too much, but they are asking that people confine their purchases to 10 pounds or less of ground beef. In the end, Putney hopes things improve in a few weeks.
At Granny’s Iowa Market in Clarion, owners Dawn and Tim Hamilton are not seeing quite the supply and price issues. In fact, Tim says they have picked up some new products to meet shortages that people are seeing at the grocery stores. For instance, in the past they haven’t stocked boneless, skinless chicken breast but are now. He adds that their prices haven’t been too affected. “That’s the benefit of buying from farmers. You don’t have to deal as much with the middleman,” Tim says.
Further up the supply chain, market disruptions are forcing livestock farmers to make tough choices. Farmers have animals at a finished age and weight for slaughter and now cannot get them processed. While there is no shortage of meat, there is a shortage of processing capacity.
When the supply chain stops, even for a short time, when it comes to pork, hogs are ready to fill barns that have to be emptied. But as meat processing plants remain shuttered, farmers are left with the options of unloading their stock quickly by others means, which as national news has noted, unfortunately has led to many hogs euthanized. According to the National Pork Producers Council, farmers will have to euthanize up to 10 million pigs by mid-September to avoid overcrowding.
A more desirable outcome has been to sell butcher weight hogs directly to consumers. Consumers are getting a bargain, buying whole hogs from $85 to as low as $25. Consequently, butchering services offered by local meat lockers are being overwhelmed by consumers rushing to take advantage of such offers in a wake of supermarket shortages.
This has led to a “good problem” at the Clarion Locker. Owner Elmarie Nels said that this time of year is usually a little slower. They use it to catch up, service equipment and perfect recipes. This year though, it is an entirely different story. Because of everything that has happened in the last two months, they are busier than ever.
A few weeks ago, they still had some available butcher dates later in the fall. Now, Nels says that they are booked until February of 2021. Her husband Manie and their staff recently processed 91 hogs in a week, when their usual number would be 15 to 20. At this point, they have had to take the phone off the hook and ask people to just email them as any call takes someone always from processing.
Nels called it “a good kind of craziness.” She said they are working hard to serve their regular customers but have also been trying to accommodate new folks from far and wide as other lockers see the same demand. She doesn’t see things slowing down anytime soon as they also consider livestock that would normally go to the local and state fairs.
For now, people can try to sneak on spot on their waiting and cancellation list. Nels said, as small business owners, they feel blessed to be able to provide their services during this difficult time. She adds that this also emphasizes the importance of the local meat system. “After everything, we hope that people continue to buy from local producers and process locally too. It’s great to know where your meat supply comes from.”
If current nationwide meat trends continue, the Clarion Locker and other links in the local supply chain will only become more prominent. Time will tell if the coronavirus pandemic will eventually give way to business as usual or a whole new normal when it comes how we obtain meat.
