Posted on 04/29/2020 9:40:56 AM PDT by blam
Where’s the Beef?
As we approach a long weekend (China shuts for the May Day holiday on Friday, and most of the rest of the world celebrates the following Monday), the prevailing sentiment is still moderately risk on – or at least that is what one would assume when looking at USD, which has been on the back foot the last few days. This is presumably because of the ‘victories’ being seen in various places against the virus. Unfortunately, in market terms we once again have to reiterate that this is a case of finding the potatoes but missing all the beef – because the economic damage is only just beginning. And it is terrifying.
Let’s start with the beef. Literally. Long before Covid emerged I was muttering darkly to colleagues that in a future more mercantilist, more militarised world disorder I could imagine food security meaning something far less ‘benign’ than it does today: not so much the ‘can I get food?’ demand side, but the ‘we have the food but aren’t sure we want you to have it’ supply side. Recent developments on wheat in Russia and rice in Vietnam may not have a deliberately Machiavellian bent to them, but they still take us closer to that kind of backdrop.
Meanwhile, with virus lockdowns hitting the supply side we have had reports of Indonesian provinces facing food shortages in staples such as rice, sugar, corn, chili, eggs and shallots. (I can personally report there are no eggs and almost no butter where I reside for now, and have not been for weeks.) Now we see headlines about potential meat shortages, even in the US, due to shutdowns of virus-struck meat processing plants in the States, Brazil, and Canada, who together account for around 65% of world production.
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(Excerpt) Read more at ussanews.com ...
Amazon shipping has fallen thru, too.
I used to be I could get next shipping, as part of my Prime membership. Now things are taking two or three weeks.
I bought some things recently from Ebay that had free shipping and arrived within the week.
>>I’ve seen some food price inflation in Florida... What state do you live in?
The rural part of Mass (yes, there is a rural part).
I think I should start a local “shopper’s exchange”.
I could post online something like:
“Just bought self rising flour at my Walmart. Need large curd cottage cheese and hamburger buns with sesame seeds.
Will trade!”
Maybe make the exchange at a local parking lot while wearing masks, gloves and keeping a six foot distance. Use hook to grab trade goods, spray with disinfectant, drive home.
>>I have found TP at BJ’s mostly because they are limiting purchases to 1 package per person.
Luckily I did stock up ahead of time - of many things - and not just because of this latest news...but my local supermarket a few weeks back was limiting purchases to a SINGLE ROLL...this is why you stock up on things way ahead of time. A single roll in my house of 6 won’t last very long.
lol- we’re almost to the point of having to barter- i think things are gonna relax and get back to at least semi normal (unless there is a second wave because so many people haven’t been exposed to the virus yet because of the shelter inplace edicts- if that happens then people will really go nuts at the stores- and food will be like money lol)
[[Now things are taking two or three weeks.]]
Yup i noticed that too- I ordered a few things 2 months ago and took almost 4 weeks to get here- (This can happen with certain sellers though- so i just chalked it up to a bad seller not shipping out very fast)- but i think now it was just a drop off in service now- We had ordered two things from different sellers that ‘got lost’ in shipping- they did refund the prices thankfully- but been ordering from amazon for years and never had shipments get lost in transit before- Coulda just been a fluke i suppose- but we’ll see how future purchases go
Denver ‘burb. Have not been able to get country ribs for past 3 weeks at King Soopers. Yesterday, after getting our weekly curbside, we stopped at Safeway. Picked up 3 packs of country ribs.
Same here.
Actually, those of us who were watching and aware were buying stuff slowly months ahead of the Great TP Panic of March 2020.
We got the stuff when the supply chain was just fine and nobody even noticed the extra buying at the time. An extra package or two of meat here. Some extra gloves there. And before you know it, you are sitting back watching the world go to hell and not being part of it.
The shortages happened not from wise people prepping but from those with their heads in the sand who suddenly realized that they had NOTHING to live on when push comes to shove.
We live in rural Alabama and always have basics with a reasonable back up.
I can give you some input on the current ag problems. As has been mentioned before here, the problem is not lack of product but a repackaging problem. When the restaurant and institutional demand collapsed there just wasn’t the capacity to turn around to retail packages. There is plenty of most everything. I know farmers in the field as I type, planting this year’s crops.
As far as beef, besides the processing end, there is a problem. A lot of stockyards are shut down. The cattle buyers are only purchasing large lots of similar cattle from one entity. The smaller producers are shut out for now. In many of the eastern states, beef production is much smaller per farm. Lot’s of folks only have a small herd and only have small lots of calves or yearlings to market. These cattle are not being marketed right now because of the yard’s closing.
Yup, exactly
I think that’s exactly what the left wants.
Hysteria and the resultant instability.
Then they will come in and save the day and people will be so desperate for peace and security and food, that they will willingly surrender their rights and liberties.
The coup will happen by deceit because it would never happen by honest elections. They will accomplish by hook or by crook what they could never accomplish any other way.
Just in some of the talking to people I’ve encountered, many people are aware of that.
Many think this whole meat shortage is another manufactured crisis.
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