Prices for beef, chicken rise to new highs as a result of COVID-19 pandemic

The closing of processing plants, restaurants affected supply lines for producers

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) —If you’ve been to the grocery store lately, you might have seen that some meats are more expensive. 

The US Department of Agriculture says the prices of many products, including beef and chicken, have gone up since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Recent data shows that the price of ground beef is $4.46/lb, up from $3.81/lb last June. The same report shows that the price of boneless chicken breasts is currently $3.35/lb, up from $2.98/lb at the same point last year.

SC Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers points to the closing of processing plants and restaurants due to COVID-19  outbreaks played a big role in the price going up.

“When any link in the chain is impacted, it impacts both the price for the farmer, as well as the availability of the consumer. There’s no shortage of supply. It’s just when a meat processing plant shuts down, that cuts off the demand,” Weathers told ABC Columbia via a Zoom interview.

Many producers in South Carolina sell livestock to processing plants in the Midwest.

Some like Tyson Foods and Smithfield Foods had to shut down large facilities due to COVID-19 outbreaks.

Even though some plants and restaurants have reopened their doors, some farmers have been exploring other avenues to sell their meat. 

“Our producers have gotten into farm-to-market type arrangements, where they would use a local processor in South Carolina, maybe to process a head or two a week and take it to a local farmer’s market, and sell it curbside like the fruit and vegetable people,” said Roy Copelan of the SC Beef Council. 

Copelan says he’s noticed the price start to go down at his supermarket, and that consumers should be aware of deals at their stores, while also encouraging them to try different cuts of beef.

A spokesman for House of Raeford, which has a chicken-processing plant in West Columbia, says the reason chicken prices went up is due to “panic-buying” at the beginning of the pandemic. With restaurants reopening, the spokesman said the price for chicken should start to go down as supply chains start to go back to normal levels.

Citing their resiliency towards international trade issues and the affects of storms over the past few years, Weathers says he’s confident cattle and poultry farmers should recover from the pandemic’s effects soon.

“As it always seems to do, the food industry and agriculture will adapt to challenges that are in front of us,” Weathers said. 

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