07/14/2021
A HEARTFELT NOTE FROM A FARMER.
Hello folks,
It’s been a helluva last 18 months hasn’t it? Regardless of where you live, your life was likely upended to a greater or lesser extent by the global response to the “virus of unknown origin”. ( I shall refer to it as such to not trigger the censor algos..)
My wife and I are both full time farmers. We raise grass-fed beef, pigs in the forest and broiler chickens on the pasture during the summer. We directly market locally, deliver to the Washington DC area and ship nationwide. We have been at this for 12 years now and have built up a business that fully employs 7 people and several more part timers.
Our family was fairly lucky through the crisis. We live in the country. We work outdoors. Our children attend a small private school that shut down for the last 2 months of the spring 2020 semester and for 1 week in the fall. They got to see their friends and be educated in person by their teachers. Most other schools were remote 100%.
To put it lightly, 2020 was an INSANE year for us. Remember when the meat shelves emptied at your local store at the same time we were all told to stay home and not go anywhere? That’s when farms like ours all over the country experienced a version of Prime Day. Almost instantly, shipping orders poured in from all over the country. Folks were buying a whole cow and 2 pigs and shipping it half way across the country regardless of the cost. The shipping department of our farm exploded by 20x almost overnight. Our 4-5 months of frozen inventory disappeared in 6 weeks.
You might think that was a good problem to have and in a way it was, but it wasn’t a profit bonanza by any means. We had to figure out all the logistics, try to hire people during the pandemic and keep them safe. We had to invest heavily into expanded production to try and keep up. Because sales were technically “up” we didn’t qualify for many of the bailouts other businesses were getting. We had to cash flow or capitalize growth. Personally, we worked over 350 days in 2020.
2020 for your local farmer and butcher across the country was a BRUTAL slog fest to keep up.
Why there was a meat shortage was a combination of mega-processing companies inability to contain virus outbreaks in their facilities & the almost universal shut down of restaurants purchasing meat. You might think that would increase supply to the market but these mega-processors are designed very carefully to package product for retail and product in large boxes for institutional buyers. About 50% to each. With all consumers now buying almost all their meat at retail the processors didn’t have enough equipment to properly package the meat for retail sale. Combined with the panic buying of everything from toilet paper to iver...mec..tin the resulting chaos pushed the prices paid ranchers for animals down 20%+ and the wholesale cost to grocery stores up over 40%. Despite the difficulties all the big meat processors in the USA experienced record profits in 2020.
So here we are today. Summer 2021 and things are finally getting back to normal and it feels a bit like we are all waking up from a nightmare into another one of economic inflation and uncertainty.
Across the board, every direct to retail farmer I have spoken to has experienced a drastic reduction in sales this year. Still higher than 2019 but all the adjustments and investment to meet last year's demands are having a drastic whiplash effect.
Labor, supplies and feed prices have gone through the roof for your local farmer.
Our farm's 20x increase in shipping orders has gone down by 75%. The sudden public outcry for local beef, pork & chicken has vaporized almost as fast as it came. It seems with the return to semi-normalcy we are being forgotten by many. I’m hearing this from other farmers too. 2021 will be a far harder year for local producers than 2020 was.
Let’s not forget the lessons the “virus of unknown origin” taught us last year. The grocery stores can and will empty for extended periods of time in a crisis.
The vast majority of meat in the US is butchered by a few dozen mega-processors. It doesn’t take much to take them offline and it doesn’t have to be a biological virus. Remember the ransomware hack on JBS just a few months ago?
Your local farmer was likely there for you at that moment of critical need last year and worked his/her tail off to meet the needs of everyone who was in need.
Our food chain is still incredibly fragile and perhaps none need you more now than the actual farmers and butchers who stepped into the fight last year and filled your freezer.
If you turned to a farmer last year when the shelves emptied.
If they went above and beyond to meet your needs.
Please don’t let them down now.
~ I feel this is something that needs to be said on behalf of all local producers. Please share if this resonates with your farm or your concerns as a supporter of local food. Understand this comes from a place of gratitude for the many customers who have and will continue to support the good fight for local food. We wouldn't be here without you. ~
