Posted on 04/03/2020 9:32:59 AM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Dairy farmer Jason Leedle felt his stomach churn when he got the call on Tuesday evening.
“We need you to start dumping your milk,” said his contact from Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), the largest U.S. dairy cooperative.
Despite strong demand for basic foods like dairy products amid the coronavirus pandemic, the milk supply chain has seen a host of disruptions that are preventing dairy farmers from getting their products to market.
Mass closures of restaurants and schools have forced a sudden shift from those wholesale food-service markets to retail grocery stores, creating logistical and packaging nightmares for plants processing milk, butter and cheese. Trucking companies that haul dairy products are scrambling to get enough drivers as some who fear the virus have stopped working. And sales to major dairy export markets have dried up as the food-service sector largely shuts down globally.
The dairy industry’s woes signal broader problems in the global food supply chain, according to farmers, agricultural economists and food distributors. The dairy business got hit harder and earlier than other agricultural commodities because the products are highly perishable - milk can’t be frozen, like meat, or stuck in a silo, like grain.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
And it’s difficult to find eggs around here. All of a sudden everybody’s discovered home cooking.
What a shame. A damn shame.
P.J. Huffstutter ?
To what depths will Fake News descend to find their willing mouthpieces ?
I wondered how hard it would be to switch from supplying restaurants to supplying more to groceries. Obviously there would need to be less bulk packaging. Apparently transportation is an issue. I guess milk serves as a good example.
Meanwhile, the milk shelves at the local Safeway are sometimes completely empty (except for the hideous soy-milk, almond-milk pretenders). Existing supply chains really are not built for this crisis.
Personally, I dont drink the stuff but I guess thats what happens when you close the all schools and restaurants.
Can’t they still make powdered milk? The farmers could sell to the companies that make powdered milk to be sold to feds for distribution to food banks
I’m in Kansas and eggs seem scarce here, too. Stores have ordered them but they aren’t coming in on the trucks. Thats really odd because its spring and the hens are going into overdrive this time of year.
Every meat department in my neck of the woods is cleaned out.
No more takeout for awhile and the grocers cannot keep up.
Now I feel good that I picked up a gallon of milk yesterday and another one today. Means less trips to the store in the next two weeks.
Did they forget the cheese?
They specifically say, “don’t forget the cheese”
Silk brand soymilk is good enuf to use with dry cereals.
Most lactose intolerant folks think its decent, but I dont use it in my coffee... tastes nasty as a creamer.
Agreed.
I come from a dairy family and this is especially difficult to see. I hope at least the small business forgivable loan program can help them some.
I went to Shoprite on staten island yesterday and they were OVERLOADED with eggs and milk and chicken and meat.
Maybe down the line it will get bad here.
I’ve been pointing that out for the last several days, since reading an analysis that pointed out that we started with food consumption being about 50-50 of meals prepared at home vs. eaten out, whether that’s McDonalds, a school cafeteria, or a nice restaurant. That has been upended, and I bet the numbers are more like 85-15 almost overnight. The food logistics system isn’t built for that, which is why groceries and the membership warehouses are going nuts.
I know of a big-box restaurant supply grocery warehouse near me. I bet if I showed up at the front door, they’d let me in. I’m tempted to try. They probably need the business.
As long as the diet root beer delivery chain isn’t broken!!
I could see where a scheduled approach might work.
If you locked down the hot spots first, announced that certain counties would be locked down in 4 days and the rest of the counties in 4 more days.
Something like that. But you still got to move fast.
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