Meat sticker shock hits as the labor shortage continues

Just The News ^ | 12/10/2021 | Zeta Cross

[Sir_Humphrey]

Prices for prime cuts of meat are up by as much as 25% with farmers and consumers taking the hit.

Tom Eikman, owner of Eikman’s Processing in Seward, Illinois, a small-sized, third-generation meat processor, said that a shortage of skilled meat handlers and rising costs are plaguing the industry.

“We need those individuals that can take a front quarter of a beef and can break that down into ribeyes and chuck roasts and ground beef. We’ve been constantly trying to find that labor source and striking out,” Eikman said.

Eikman has a theory that many of the longtime guys who did the skilled meat processing jobs retired early because of the pandemic. Workers make $18 an hour at Amazon. Some are not keen on standing on their feet in icy facilities, lifting 70-pound meat carcasses for less money.

[JCL3]

Ranchers out here(south Texas) have had enough.
We bought a 1/4 calf for about $5.50/lb that filled up half of our large upright freezer(2 full shelves, 110 lbs of meat cut, wrapped, and marked). We’ve even had one open his own “small”, licensed processing plant.

[central_va]

Oh BS. If the wages were double w that would not increase meat prices all that much to the consumer.

If a hog butcher gets $15/hr and cuts 100 chops an hour at the labor is $.15 per chop. So double the labor to $30.00/hr and the per chop the labor is now $.30. NO BIG DEAL and that's DOUBLING the labor costs.

So freaking pay more you losers!!

[central_va]

Labor, like any other commodity, is subject the laws f supply and demand. SO PAY MORE AND YO WILL GET LABOR. STOP LABOR ARBITRAGE - that’s for communists..

[central_va]

My Daddy told me a long time ago there is no such thing as a labor shortage only wage shortages. If you need work done there is someone that will do it for the right price.

[central_va]

It is a sellers market for labor, the first one since the 1990’s and many a Freeper can’t handle it. Boo freakin’ hoo.

[ridesthemiles]

Still need to have the skills....

[cornfedcowboy]

Is Central_VA on forced sabbatical? Maybe DU is paying more than FR?

[DoodleDawg]

It is a sellers market for labor, the first one since the 1990’s and many a Freeper can’t handle it. Boo freakin’ hoo.

Elementary economics seems to be a puzzle to many people.

[Farmerbob]

You got that right!
I did the same with some roosters.

Not worth it when you can get them at 99cents/Lb. cut up and cleaned, or already cooked for 5$ at costco!

[I got the rope]

Fake and gay news. There is no shortage if workers. What he needs more Mexicans in his plant?

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Meat’s expensive…

… and we can’t harvest the neighbors, because they’re filled with spike proteins.

So there’s that.

[gnarledmaw]

JBS, worlds largest meat processor(HQ Brazil) and huge backer of all sorts of globalist agendas, is paying $24-27 starting.

Youve all seen plenty of people over the years talk about the problems with international business and monopolies so I wont do that rant here. (All food production and processing should be as local as possible but I dont feel like having that argument right now.)

Instead, Ill take a little bit of a different angle. "You" all deserve it. I said this was going to happen many years ago when you all bought into the black angus scam. Here it is. Everywhere JBS "Certified Angus Beef Brand" shows up, the price of beef doubles. Most of you dont have any options now because they have most of the contracts for most of the grocer chains.

If you hate America, love international control of your food (artificial famines), and support all kinds of globalist ecowacko bullshit then just keep buying these brands.

[Born to Conserve]

“Still need to have the skills....”

No, you’re confusing an actual butcher with these production line human automatons that only have to make a few cuts on the carcasses that fly by every few seconds.

These factory worker are being replace with automation as we speak.

Human wages are going up, as automation price points are going down. This only ends one way.

[FreedomPoster]

There are some local guys on the way to my lake house with some great looking critters I need to have that conversation with, once I figure out where to put a chest freezer.

[kearnyirish2]

We’ll get a play-by-play for every industry as to why their particular prices are rising, and they’ll blames workers (us) - but the fact is that the DOLLAR IS FALLING (so everything has “sticker shock”).

Time to pay the piper for all that free money given away by the gubmint...

[bert]

As always as a labor unionist, you don’t understand business.

Paying more for labor increases the sale price to a point where customers won’t buy. The jobs resulting from paying more thus destroy all of the enterprise jobs.

[4yearlurker]

You are 100% correct. You don't want somebody hunking and chunking the beef because there go your profits. Put on your coat and apron,put a edge on your knives.The boss man told you to go in the cooler and bring out 15 hinds,drop the lions (make sure you hang the lions on the tree hook without poking holes in the strip) and pull the fillets,but leave them heavy. I'm sure any beginner will know which knife to use and the proper angle to hold it when pulling the fillet. Then bring out 20 fronts and bust them down with a hand saw, (let's see do I cut between the 3rd and 4th rib?) then buzz the plate off the ten inch rib and hang the plates on a tree hook for boning out and adding to bull beef later. Boss man needs 20, 109 prime ribs,take off the chine and cap the rib but leave the feather bone on the cap,pull the deckles and press them on peach paper for cube steaks later today. Now wrap that 109 rib back up and tie it. I'm sure everyone knows the butcher slip knot. Hey,my knife is getting balled better touch it up a bit. Now let's bone out those plates and bring out ten 60 pound boxes of frozen bull beef and cut them up for grinding on the band saw. Put some peach paper inside the saw under the bottom wheel cause a lot of meat will pile up in there and can be used in the batch for grinding...