re: Price of meat going up at stores

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Why is meat becoming scarce. Are meat processing plants shut down?

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Many of the packing plant workers have tested positive for Covid19, and I mean a LOT of them and some have shut down due to not having enough workers to do the job right.

According to what I can find on the net, beef processing is down 27% and pork processing is down 20% from this time last year, but demand is up with more people confining themselves to their homes.

Will this lead to increased meat pricing, wait and see is all I can say.

Those 2 freezers at my house stacked with deer meat from this season are looking better and better everyday.

There are several issues leading to a meat shortage, besides COVID shutting down processing plants. With restaurants closed that part of the supply chain is disrupted, the demand has shifted to consumer outlets but the systems have not caught up.

We all eat too much meat anyway, I sure do, this may be a blessing if we change over to more vegetable protein. Beans here I come.

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The cattlemen are getting about $0.81 per pound for 500-600lb calves at the local sale barns. Doesn't make sense that the buyers are paying so cheap, but the meat from the packing plants is/will be sky high.

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It has been getting worse and worse for years.

I went to my local meat market, Saia’s in Mandeville, and definitely found a shortage this afternoon. I wanted to support a local business and pickup some fresh ground Italian sausage to add to meatballs for this evening’s dinner. 4lsu2jr requested meatballs last night before bed.

They also had a sign up that said their prices are increasing as a result of their suppliers dealing with decreased supply and passing the cost increases to them.

It is definitely happening.

I know where they have wild hogs and deer......

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The cattlemen are getting about $0.81 per pound for 500-600lb calves at the local sale barns. Doesn't make sense that the buyers are paying so cheap, but the meat from the packing plants is/will be sky high.

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Meat packers are worst than the mob. They can artificially inflate the price of meat and decrease their cost of buying at the same time.

Grocers lock in meat prices and run sales 2-3 weeks out. You’ll see cheaper meat right now because meat was purchased 2 weeks ago, right before the plants started closing. This week, meat prices for grocers are near double, so you’ll see an increase in meat prices for the next 2-3 weeks.

Processors are starting to go back to work, so figure we have 2 weeks of shortage and higher prices, and 2 weeks to catch back up. Just figure on high meat prices and lower stock until June.

When you give trillions of dollars of free money to people this is what happens. Inflation.