# Meat crisis? Nothingburger?



## KrisUpInSmoke (Apr 30, 2020)

What's everyone hearing about the slaughtering of excess livestock? Meat prices? Shortages? I know the federal government made it illegal to close meat processing facilities. While there's been talk about plant closures, I've read that the unprocessed livestock set to be euthanized only exists because resturants and schools aren't buying it like they usually would. Are meat prices actually going to go up, or will prices be based on a person's location? You'd think prices would go down because there's too much meat available. 

Also interesting, Wyoming is allowing ranchers to sell directly to the public. 








						New Wyoming law to allow ranchers to sell meat directly
					

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, with processing plants closing and cattle prices that are experiencing a roller coaster ride, a new Wyoming law could offer a solution for ranchers.




					www.wlj.net


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## pc farmer (Apr 30, 2020)

Whats happening with milk with schools being out?  Did it go down?  Not here.  Farmers are being paid to dump milk but paying for it by the farmers still shipping milk.  My cousin has another charge on his milk check to pay for the dumped milk.


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## clifish (Apr 30, 2020)

Dropped into Restaurant depot today, still wiped of chicken.  Guy inside said 7 pallets of chicken breast coming in tomorrow, going to grab a box of 40lbs if I can.  2 weeks ago they were loaded with beef, grabbed a full fillet mignon and a 7 full trip-tips.  Today neither, guy saying shipments of beef slowed to a trickle and prices going up .  Was able to  grab 5lbs of 90/10 chop meat while they had it.  Glad I have the vac sealer.


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## smokngun (Apr 30, 2020)

pc farmer said:


> Whats happening with milk with schools being out?  Did it go down?  Not here.  Farmers are being paid to dump milk but paying for it by the farmers still shipping milk.  My cousin has another charge on his milk check to pay for the dumped milk.


In our county schools are still serving lunch for the "free lunch" students it is a drive up sack lunch with milk and all. I had to pick up school supplies back in Mar which was also drive up, while waiting they told me to move because I was backing up the lunch line, when I turned around the line of cars was down the block.


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## tallbm (May 1, 2020)

I don't know its all confusing to me.  I'm just going to continue buying meat each week while gradually building up my freezer stores and not eat from the freezer.  I don't want to hoard.
Now I did buy 40 pounds of ground beef on short sale but that wasn't hoarding as they had a ton of it lol.

I'm glad wyoming can sell directly to people.  

If i had the opportunity I would take a free steer and a couple of pigs off any rancher's hands that was just going to kill and waste the animal anyhow.  Trust me I've been searching to see if farms are doing this and have had no luck finding any indication of it in Texas.

I did read that a chicken farm in Penn. gave away 6,000 chickens but had to still kill a ton because there was just no where for the chicken to go.  I'm glad they gave away the 6,000 they did.

I have enough family and friends with deep freezers that I would have no problem taking free animals, slaughtering, and processing them with their help and making sure the meat didnt go to waste.  

I wish the defense production act was  used to mobilize the military's logistic capability to transport the milk, eggs, and produce into the food banks rather than letting it go to waste.  As opposed declaring the meat plants to stay open when their workforce is a bunch of sick people lol.


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## negolien (May 1, 2020)

nothing burger meats essential baby


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## chopsaw (May 1, 2020)

tallbm said:


> I don't know its all confusing to me. I'm just going to continue buying meat each week while gradually building up my freezer stores and not eat from the freezer. I don't want to hoard.


Good for you . I've been doing the same . Once a week to GFS to buy meat , but always think of the next guy , and only take what I consider to be my share of what's there at the time . 
Alot of no roll beef coming thru my area .


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## sandyut (May 1, 2020)

real or not - all the press has be driving people to overbuy.  but there is a limitation on how much most can be stored.  unlike TP which could be pilled anywhere and not go bad.  if food be being wasted, euthanize etc. that is sad.  we shouldn't need to destroy good food and animals.  how does that become the better option with so many people with no jobs...give it to them! - seems jacked up to me.

this is a symptom of broken systems pushed to the limit due to the pandemic response.  I feel the food supply in the USA works well when there is a "normal state", but we left normal a while back.  the unspoken, behind the scenes BS that goes on between governments, farmers, ranchers, etc. sets up for fragility and waste.  Ending rant...might have watched a few too many food documentaries...

I filled my freezer, I did I, admit it.  I blew off the TP scare then nearly ran out and then there was none.  Not being that fool again.


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## Blues1 (May 1, 2020)

Saw this on another forum...

Not sure how feasible for most of you, but this is happening at a Big supplier in VanWert, Oh.
If you Don't have Facebook it's a Big farm that sells to Tyson etc.. they need to get rid of their hogs because of the virus fiasco. Whole hog $140 Hog weight is guaranteed 260-280 lbs.






**EDIT** Due to overwhelming interest, we are only able to sell to buyers who are able to take 10 or more hogs at once for the sale this week. We will update this post with info about future sales. All pigs will be sold on a first come, first serve basis.
Hogs for Sale! Please share this with whoever you can; BrennCo Inc will be selling market ready hogs to anyone who can butcher. Sale will be held every Saturday from noon to 5 at 14527 Fife Rd Van Wert OH until pigs are gone. Please bring cash or a check made out to Brennco Inc. Hogs will be sold for $140 per pig, about $0.50/lb. We sell our hogs to Tyson and IPC packers in Indiana. Both plants are currently shuttered and this has caused an unsustainable situation. We have a massive backlog of pigs that can’t be moved and we need new barn space for the piglets that will be born in the next few weeks. If we don’t move these pigs quickly, we will be forced to euthanize thousands of hogs. If you are able to butcher a hog and want pork well below whole sale price this is for you. Please support your local farms, we don’t want to euthanize our animals we’ve worked so hard to raise, we do what it takes to treat our animals well and keep America fed, and you can help us in our hour of need! Pigs will be a guaranteed weight of 260 lbs, most pigs sold will be around 280 lbs.


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## tallbm (May 1, 2020)

chopsaw said:


> Good for you . I've been doing the same . Once a week to GFS to buy meat , but always think of the next guy , and only take what I consider to be my share of what's there at the time .
> Alot of no roll beef coming thru my area .


Its good to hear from responsible like-minded folks doing their part. Thanks for doing so :) 



sandyut said:


> real or not - all the press has be driving people to overbuy.  but there is a limitation on how much most can be stored.  unlike TP which could be pilled anywhere and not go bad.  if food be being wasted, euthanize etc. that is sad.  we shouldn't need to destroy good food and animals.  how does that become the better option with so many people with no jobs...give it to them! - seems jacked up to me.
> 
> this is a symptom of broken systems pushed to the limit due to the pandemic response.  I feel the food supply in the USA works well when there is a "normal state", but we left normal a while back.  the unspoken, behind the scenes BS that goes on between governments, farmers, ranchers, etc. sets up for fragility and waste.  Ending rant...might have watched a few too many food documentaries...
> 
> I filled my freezer, I did I, admit it.  I blew off the TP scare then nearly ran out and then there was none.  Not being that fool again.


A lot of it baffles me as well.  The only solution I have is to position myself to control what I can and to position myself to has as much flexibility as possible :)
 I had an unopened Costco pack of TP before it all started.  I then ordered some online but it was basically gas station giant rolls and I had to buy 24 in one lot.  I'm find but I had to make sure I had some for me and the ol lady and her kid (I swear they eat the stuff).  A couple of days ago I did my weekly grocery run and for the first time I saw TP on the shelves in the grocery store since March 20'th.

I should be covered on the TP front for a while and I'll continue being responsible with the meat buying.  
I usually have my standup garage freezer fairly filled due to my yearly meat hunt.  My goal each year is to harvest 90-180 pounds of meet to have throughout the year.  I then eat on that all year and by time time my next yearly meat hunt comes along I've emptied that freezer.  My goal now is to not empty out what I have just in case things get even worse for me or my loved ones but instead to eat off what is out there and fill the freezer as I go.  For example briskets and pork butts have been very available so I just buy those, break it down and eat on it, and freeze the extra.

If things get really bad for me or my loved ones I'll be out overnight at my cousin's deer lease harvesting/shooting feral hogs for meat hahaha.  We've got no shortage of them in Texas just a shortage of access to them :)



Blues1 said:


> Saw this on another forum...
> 
> Not sure how feasible for most of you, but this is happening at a Big supplier in VanWert, Oh.
> If you Don't have Facebook it's a Big farm that sells to Tyson etc.. they need to get rid of their hogs because of the virus fiasco. Whole hog $140 Hog weight is guaranteed 260-280 lbs.
> ...



I'm so glad you posted that.  Those are the right kind of people.  I'm glad they exist and I hope they make it through these hard times!


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## KrisUpInSmoke (May 3, 2020)

A rancher out of Texas recorded a video saying things are bad. It's worrisome, I have to say. He said while US ranchers are having to destroy cattle, there are imports from other countries, like Namibia. He also asked that we sign a petition to make Country of Origin labeling mandatory,  and I did.  I'm not sure what to think. One of the major grocery stores here is starting to limit meat purchases, but they said it's to prevent hoarding and not due to limited supply. So, I suppose more and more people are starting to panic about meat supplies now.
.
Below is the video the rancher posted on Facebook. What do you all think?



The petition, if you're interested,








						Sign the Petition To Immediately Pass Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling for Beef, Pork and Dairy Products.
					

Please click the link to complete this form.




					r-calf.jotform.com


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## tallbm (May 5, 2020)

KrisUpInSmoke said:


> A rancher out of Texas recorded a video saying things are bad. It's worrisome, I have to say. He said while US ranchers are having to destroy cattle, there are imports from other countries, like Namibia. He also asked that we sign a petition to make Country of Origin labeling mandatory,  and I did.  I'm not sure what to think. One of the major grocery stores here is starting to limit meat purchases, but they said it's to prevent hoarding and not due to limited supply. So, I suppose more and more people are starting to panic about meat supplies now.
> .
> Below is the video the rancher posted on Facebook. What do you all think?
> 
> ...




Thanks for posting that Kris.  I have no issue with country of origin labeling, it makes sense to me.
In TX there are a lot of small game processing operations.  I'm sure these places would like to take some of that government money being used to help euthanize these animals and instead process them.  Worse case the meat could go to food banks.

I would really love to take a free steer off these ranchers hands if they are just gonna euthanize them anyhow.  I bet with myself and my extended family we could remove and process at least 10 steer.  Not everyone in my extended family is so successful or very educated so their job opportunities and ability to keep their heads above water isn't so great but the vast majority of them are as good as human of beings as you will find.  I have no doubt they would come together to process 10 steer and fill all their freezers or buy a freezer if they dont have one. 
I know 10 steer is nothing to these beef ranches but it could be everything to 1 extended family so it would make a difference to them :)

It really troubles me that those who can make things happen do not seem to be working on solutions to allow people to just take these animals off the rancher's hands or even buy them directly.

It also troubles me that those who can make things happen have not proposed ways to point such a  huge surplus of unemployed work force at such huge problems of demand in certain areas of the country.  

I know it's not easy.  Heck even when I try to chip in to help in some cases there are obstacles I haven't found a way to work around.  I'll still keep trying to think of ways to help out though. 
I think I'm gonna reach out to some local game processing plants and see if they've been contacted or heard anything about allowing them to somehow contribute and be paid.  I know that if I own an animal and bring it do them they can process it for me and I can only pay them for the service.  I also believe they can donate meat as well.  This leads me to believe there is some kind of path in the quagmire that could include all these small processing operations to get into the mix and help if they wanted to and were allowed.

No matter what though I plan to do my part and not hoard and not get myself, my family/friends, or anyone else sick.  That's about all I can immediately control :)

Thanks everyone for putting up with my ranting and thinking out loud :)


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## chopsaw (May 5, 2020)

tallbm said:


> It really troubles me that those who can make things happen do not seem to be working on solutions to allow people to just take these animals off the rancher's hands or even buy them directly.


You're not alone in that thought my friend .


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## sandyut (May 5, 2020)

chopsaw said:


> You're not alone in that thought my friend .


yup...seems like a lot more could be done to connect the dots and make this better for all.


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## mneeley490 (May 14, 2020)

I generally like to buy cryovacs. The Cash & Carry (aka SmartFood Service) was having a sale on brisket for $1.99 lb last week, so I went in to see shelves bare not just of brisket, but nearly every fresh meat they stock. It was unreal. So I went to Costco, and their beef supply was wiped out as well.  Only a couple lonely packages of ground beef. The grocery stores here still have some steaks, but it's lesser cuts like petite sirloin. 
In WA state, farmers are giving away tons of potatoes because they can't get them to processors.  People are driving miles to wait in line for hours for 10 or 20 lbs of free potatoes. This is starting to get crazy.


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## tallbm (May 14, 2020)

mneeley490 said:


> I generally like to buy cryovacs. The Cash & Carry (aka SmartFood Service) was having a sale on brisket for $1.99 lb last week, so I went in to see shelves bare not just of brisket, but nearly every fresh meat they stock. It was unreal. So I went to Costco, and their beef supply was wiped out as well.  Only a couple lonely packages of ground beef. The grocery stores here still have some steaks, but it's lesser cuts like petite sirloin.
> In WA state, farmers are giving away tons of potatoes because they can't get them to processors.  People are driving miles to wait in line for hours for 10 or 20 lbs of free potatoes. This is starting to get crazy.



That sucks on the meat.  I'm glad to hear the potato farmers are giving away the crops if they can.  I personally would hope they give more than 10-20lbs for driving so long and waiting.  I would tell em to fill up the truck bed lol.


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