Compare the Prices of Bacon and Corned Beef
Charley Bogwill sees college prices for much of the food he and his family bring to their Iowa Land Academy football tailgates: The brisket. The brats. And especially the bacon.
"We buy a lot of bacon, and it'due south gone upwardly at least a dollar a pound" in recent months, said Bogwill, a former ISU football game player who uses it to make appetizers like jalapeno poppers.
For Bogwill, who converted a 1970 Ford Vanette with friend Jeff Burdick into a tailgating mecca, said the added expense isn't a brunt with only virtually seven home games during the football flavor.
But for consumers across Iowa and the nation, the costs are calculation up equally meat prices surge on stiff demand, labor shortages and supply concatenation disruptions. And potential meat shortages mean consumers should buy ahead, experts said.
Beef and veal prices were upward 17.6% in September compared to a yr before; pork, 12.7%; eggs, 12.6%; fish and seafood, vii.one%; and poultry, 6.ane%, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture study on consumer prices for nutrient.
The salary Bogwill is buying averaged $half-dozen.14 a pound last week, 16.eight% higher than a twelvemonth earlier, based on a department survey.
For 2021 alone, the agriculture department expects beefiness, veal and pork prices to climb vi.five% to 7.5%; poultry prices to spring 3.5% to 4.five%; and egg prices 3% to 4%.
Some spot shortages could occur, experts say. Supplies are especially low for turkeys going into Thanksgiving. The supply of turkeys in cold storage through Baronial, the end of the seasonal buildup to the holiday, was 20% below the same time a year earlier, the agriculture department said in Oct.
"It's inevitable. Some stores will run out of turkeys," said Joe Kerns, president of Partners for Production Agriculture, a commodity risk direction company in Ames.
"If you're supposed to supply the turkey and you take the freezer infinite, y'all should purchase it at present," said Jennifer Zwagerman, director of Drake University's Agronomical Law Center.
The agriculture department's livestock, poultry and dairy forecast said wholesale prices for frozen turkeys in September were the highest on a monthly basis since 2006, when the agency began keeping the data. Turkeys were selling for $1.36 a pound.
"If you desire a Thanksgiving turkey ... don't waltz into the store ii days alee of time, and remember you're going to find what you want. It's non in the cards," Kerns said.
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Livestock producers feeling effects of inflation
Knute and Amanda Severson recently emailed a warning to their Grand View Beef customers: Prices for their north central Iowa farm'due south grass-fed specialty cuts volition climb as much as 10% adjacent year, with college costs to feed and process cattle, then to deliver the steaks, prime ribs and other cuts to homes beyond the Iowa and Midwest.
The couple, who farm north of Blaring, also made a promise: They'll hold prices steady for the rest of the year, and go along staples like ground beef affordable, a move they see as fundamental to keeping their customers who buy locally grown food.
"If we significantly raised our prices, information technology would send customers back to the grocery store," said Amanda Severson, who sells basis beef for about $8 a pound. That's $1 to $2 less than the price for grass-fed brands sold at Hy-Vee, a spot bank check of online prices shows.
Widespread drought this year contributed to Grand View's higher prices, reducing the corporeality of pasture available to feed the family unit'due south herd of about 100 head of cattle.
Severson said the drought forced her and her husband to brainstorm feeding their cattle hay before than usual in the yr at a cost that was about 20% higher than in 2020.
The agriculture department said in October that farthermost and exceptional drought in the western U.S. had impacted 45% of the nation's alfalfa hay and would likely push prices higher for beefiness and dairy producers.
Drake's Zwagerman said producers who feed cattle corn also are paying college prices, given the rise in commodity prices over the past year.
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Severson said a fire at a north Iowa locker forced her and her married man to truck all their livestock to a more than plush federally inspected Minnesota facility, instead of only the portion of their herd that they sell beyond state lines.
And getting processing time at lockers is tricky, she said. Many Iowa lockers are booked a year in advance and some already are looking at schedules for 2023.
With rising expenses, the young business could increment prices more than aggressively. Merely Severson said she and her husband don't want to lose the customers after working so hard to win their trust.
"We're trying to provide transparency in everything we practice — from how we raise the animals to how nosotros choose our prices," she said. "It's a long game for us."
Shortages possible as supply chain struggles to meet demand
Disruptions are occurring across the supply concatenation — from labor shortages at farms, meatpacking plants, warehouses and ports to shortages of aluminum, plastics and other packaging materials, said Jennifer Blackhurst, a University of Iowa professor of business analytics.
"Put it all together, and information technology'due south causing prices to go up," she said.
Many of the kinks the supply chain began with the pandemic and have connected to ripple through the economy, Blackhurst said.
"A lot of food manufacturers are struggling to become workers, fifty-fifty as they're raising wages," she said.
And with fewer employees, companies are asking them to piece of work longer hours, adding to workplace churn.
"It's not attractive to people and they go out," Blackhurst said.
An Oct. 27 congressional report constitute that at least 59,000 meatpacking institute workers became ill with COVID-19 terminal yr, three times an United Food and Commercial Workers Wedlock had estimated. The U.Southward. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis report said 269 workers died.
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"It doesn't create confidence for employees," said Drake Academy'south Zwagerman.
Kerns said meatpacking plant labor challenges are impacting what products companies can produce.
"Anything that requires further processing is going to trade at a premium," he said.
"If yous want a bone-in ham, you're going to accept that," he said. "But if yous want a nice spiral ham ... and accept Norman Rockwell presentation, they're going to be a piffling harder to observe."
Kerns said the bad news for most Iowans is that little of the college price they're paying is making its way dorsum to livestock producers. Hogs and cattle are among Iowa's peak five agricultural products.
"If y'all're in Iowa, you're getting the worst of all worlds," Kerns said. "The value is non beingness captured to the U.Due south. producer, and consumers are feeling the higher prices."
Zwagerman said she expects consumers volition encounter spot shortages going into the vacation season, when "everyone is ownership the same thing at once."
"It may require shopping around a chip more," she said, adding that some of the shortages could be surprising at first. For example, her in-laws recently reported finding no pork in the grocery store as shoppers looked for lower-priced proteins.
Zwagerman said the higher prices could be effectually for at least part of next twelvemonth.
"Information technology'due south not like these supply chain issues volition get stock-still in a couple of weeks," she said. "Just things will get better."
Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Annals. Reach her at deller@registermedia.com or 515-284-8457.
Source: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2021/10/31/meat-prices-up-stock-low-due-to-supply-chain-issues-drought-more-holidays-iowa-midwest-farms/8551220002/