re: Meat prices spiking. Here is supposedly why.

quote:

---

I raise cattle. They're are only 4 major packing companies left. 2 are foreign owned. They have bonded together to create a monopoly. We lose money the feed lots lose money and the packing houses are making a killing. I'm actually feeding out yearlings for slaughter. People are starting to buy from local farmers because it helps us and is cheaper for them.

---

I've live in an area with lots of cattle farms and I have been trying to buy a side of beef for a while now. Problem is, the soonest I can get it, is late August. I've been told the 1st of the year, June 2021, etc. The processors are backed up and the farmers can't get their cattle butchered.

quote:

---

I listened to the Joe Rogan podcast where he had Joel Salatin in and while I disagree with some of the stuff Salatin was going on about, is it true that a person can’t buy directly from a farmer unless it goes through an FDA approved slaughter house?

---

Yep and the inspector has to be there and there is a shortage of inspectors. 2 of our local slaughterhouses are booked out until Sept because everyone is trying to get their own animal butchered and the inspector only can come 1-2 times a week

quote:

---

decreased supply

---

I'd imagine it's more accurately issues in the supply chain rather than actual supply of beef, pork, or chicken.

Are meat prices that high now? I haven't bought meat since this whole thing started. I've been craving a domestic pork tenderloin.

yesterday i run by to pick up some milk and stroll by the meat. 80/20 is like $7 or 8/lb and people are freaking out

93/7 is still $5.50 or so and the organic, grass fed 85/15 is $5.75. i pick up 2 lbs of that while the masses complain

those organic ground beef packages are great for freezing. i need to pick up a couple more today before people realize their mistake

quote:

---

Are meat prices that high now?

---

ground beef has skyrocketed. 80/20 is almost double what it was a couple months ago

quote:

---

80/20 is almost double what it was a couple months ago

---

And yet 96/4 stays steady at $5 a pound

quote:

---

Local farmers and slaughter houses need to do a better job at selling themselves. Most people think meat can only be purchased at Wal-Mart or other big chain stores.

---

I've said the same thing about the shrimp industry and the oyster industry, and I've talked to shrimpers and oystermen, and here is what they have said.

1) They would love to sell direct to consumer.

2) Selling at a market, storefront, etc, requires either hiring someone to do it, or they have to take time off the water to do it themselves.

3) Selling direct to consumer requires additional regulation

4) They feel that if they start selling too much direct to consumer, the wholesalers will stop buying from them.

Simply put, for your average shrimper, the additional revenue that could be earned selling direct to customer isn't worth the additional headache and additional costs.

I would imagine a lot of farmers are the same way. Maybe if you have a big enough farm and enough family members, it helps. You also have to have your own slaughter operation, which means, more costs and regulation.

quote:

---

I listened to the Joe Rogan podcast where he had Joel Salatin in and while I disagree with some of the stuff Salatin was going on about, is it true that a person can’t buy directly from a farmer unless it goes through an FDA approved slaughter house?

---

Here is what I have been told when I have asked about buying half a cow.

You buy the cow from the farmer. They finish it and handle all the issues with the slaugterhouse. But you own it directly throughout the process. So you aren't buying processed meat (which requires inspection). You are buying a half of a cow.

I'm fairly certain the local places that process deer aren't USDA approved.