Beef Tips
Clete Kirschbaum
This month has resulted in a few extra calls to the farm. Given all of the news surrounding the commodity livestock markets and the disruption of the centralized meat supply chain due to COVID-19, many consumers are starting to seek alternatives. Local business and local supply chains were common practice not that long ago and fueled many small towns across America. That ecosystem has changed with the centralization of processing in many areas and the associated diversion of local dollars to economies outside of the place of the products agricultural origin. This centralization has also brought on other impacts in terms of food safety and affects the price farmers receive for their goods in the marketplace. One of the key strategies of local producers in past years has been Direct Marketing. In order for Direct Marketing of beef to work, there have to be inspected facilities that enable small producers to market and package their products for resale. We are fortunate where I live, that there are still many small abattoirs available to service our community. There are also still enough local producers who supply these pipelines and enable beef products to be produced. John Hamm recently shared his story and during COVID-19, John had been leveraging this channel to supply meats to consumers in different markets in Wisconsin, before the disruption of the central packing houses. This demonstrates the resilience of a diverse and local ecosystem in agricultural marketing. While this sort of ecosystem comes with seasonality, it is the supply chain that built America. Economist have long toiled over the benefits of specialization and centralization citing the myriad economic philosophies and phenomena that occur in such systems. As a farmer, I have found that flexible, agile, and resilient systems come from diversity. Without small farmers and producers, Abattoirs could not exists and the high quality food chains that are resilient and local could not have helped. I think the lesson I have learned in this is that the pursuit of Direct Marketing, partnering with local abattoirs and building a local food stems are what strengthens America. We enjoy the modern idea of going to a grocery store and getting exactly what is needed, but shouldn't we also enjoy knowing the producer of our food, that our dollar is used within our communities to better it, and that the food we produce really does feed America? Farmers have long been stewards of the land and community. We should not forget that, and as the backbone of our local food systems, we have the ability to feed our communities. We have planted a garden this year that will produce more than we can eat. That too can help feed our community. The disruption caused by COVID-19 may persist while America gets back to work. Support your local food system and try out Direct Marketing of the products on your farm. There is demand.
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