By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The coronavirus outbreak has created a bottleneck in the meatpacking industry as major packing plants have shut down or slowed production.
The pandemic is highlighting critical weaknesses in the nation's meat supply chain, resulting in some producers selling direct to consumers.
Adam Jones and his Crooked Creek Angus in St. Francis has always sold some registered angus beef direct to consumers. With many grocery store meat shelves empty or limits being placed on in-store purchases, though, consumers are clamoring to buy direct from farmers.
Jones said he would love to sell more beef to his customers, but the small meat lockers where Jones would send the cattle to be slaughtered are booked into mid-2021.
Ranchers spend more to make less
Not being able to get the cattle to market is not only bad for the consumer because it causes shortages and higher prices, but it is worse for the producers.
Cattle that would normally be sold at 1,400 pounds are getting to 1,600 to 1,700 pounds, which makes the cattle more difficult to transport and slaughter, Jones said.
It becomes a game of diminishing returns, he said. The rancher has to keep feeding out the cattle, even after they have reached optimum weight.
"I think this is really showing a challenge in the cattle industry that predates the coronavirus," he said. "There is not enough processing, and it is controlled by four companies. If there is hiccup, like we also had at Holcomb, you get a bottleneck in the supple chain and you cannot get product through to consumers."
'Volatility the enemy of ag'
Ken Klemm of The Buffalo Guys and Goodland Beef, northeast of Goodland, said he has had similar issues getting his bison and cattle to market. He has about 600 head of bison and 200 head of cattle.
Klemm said he prefers direct-to-consumer sales. They ultimately benefit the farmer, because they cut out the middle man. It also helps ranchers deal with fluctuating commodity prices, which are being seen now.
The prices per pound that consumers pay stays relatively stable, Klemm said.
"Keeping things steady and security are needed in ag," he said. "It takes decades take care of land and grow herds. Volatility is the enemy of ag."
Klemm also sells beef and bison direct to consumers, but, at this point, he can't get animals in to either the larger or smaller meatpacking facilities to be processed.
"These bookings have negatively impacted us," he said. "We are no longer able to sell to regular customers or new customers."
No skin in the game
Klemm said he fears there could be a collapse in orders for the smaller meat packers. He compared the rush to buy meat to the toilet paper panic earlier in the pandemic.
"We have people booking slaughter spots that have no skin in the game," he said. "They have no animal, but they book an animal to slaughter. Six months from now, the person who ordered the beef doesn't want to pay. I'm concerned it will flip the other way.
"It is not conducive to supplying meat to people."
Even if the smaller meatpacking plants would have bookings open, selling direct to consumers is likely not the long-term solution to all of the ranchers' problems.
Jones said he was selling about 10 head a year direct to consumers out of a herd of about 200.
Klemm said he sets his budget a year in advance. Although the bottom has not dropped out of the bison market, returns for beef have been much lower. He said he was projecting he would bring in about a third to a half less than his cattle normally would bring at market this year.
Both ranchers anticipated Kansas will see producers go out of business as a result of losses this year.
Mid-size packers 'regulated out of business'
Both ranchers are among producers nationwide who are lobbying to change meatpacking regulations that would allow more small meatpackers to open or grow.
"Basically all of the medium packers were bought or regulated out of business," Klemm said. "Certainly that was out of design."
Producers by themselves will not be successful in pushing reforms, Jones said. All consumers who like to eat steaks also need to be engaging their congressmen, he said.
Creating new consumers
Klemm, however, was hopeful current meat shortages are not only educating consumers about where their meat comes from but creating a lasting direct-to-consumer market.
Purchases of deep freezes have sharply increased since the pandemic started. Consumers need deep freezes in order to purchase halves or quarters of a beef or hog direct from a rancher.
These are major purchases, that consumers will likely continue to use even after the pandemic is over, Klemm said.
"A lot of people are seeing the quality direct from the farm is superior from the grocery store," he said. "This tastes better. Why not keep doing it?"
Ranchers, consumers connect on social media
Charley Brown of Palco is one of those consumers who has chosen to buy direct during the COVID shortages, something that is new for his family.
Brown found producers on the newly created Shop Kansas Farms Facebook page. The page seeks to connect local farmers and ranchers directly with consumers.
The page became so popular, others have started regional pages, with Jace Winder launching a Shop Northwest Kansas Farms Facebook page.
The Shop Kansas Farms page has earned more than 134,000 followers since its creation April 28. The Northwest Kansas Farms has garnered 2,700 followers since its creation May 8.
"It's amazing how many people raise all sorts of different things out here in northwest Kansas," Winder said via Facebook.
The pages highlight not only meat producers, but farmers and gardeners selling produce and eggs.
Brown purchased a half of a pork, a quarter of a beef, a quart of raw honey and a gallon of goat's milk direct after visiting the pages.
"I like it," Brown said. "We averaged it out. I think we are actually getting a better deal per pound than we were getting at the grocery store, and we get quality meat that we know where it comes from."
Brown said he hoped purchasing direct could help save some family farms.
"The quality is 100 times what we are getting at the grocery store," he said. "We are cutting out the middle man, and we are cutting out those nasty feed lots."