In 2018 California passed a ballot referendum requiring that meat marketed in California be afforded "ethical treatment" while being raised and during the slaughtering process.
What is unusual about this law is that it requires meat from animals raised in states other-than-California conform to these laws. Since meat is fungible once it enters marketing channels, the only way to enforce this is to require meat raised in all states conform to California law.
Hithertofore, this kind of legislation has been seen as an encroachment on Federal jurisdiction and in violation of laws protecting inter-state commerce. The Federal courts have not seen fit to rule on this law even as it takes effect.
Expect your bacon and sausage and hotdogs and everything else to get even MORE expensive than it would otherwise given the cost of feed inputs and labor.
There has never been a better time to find local food producers and get cozy with them. A Community Supported Agriculture group can thumb their noses at California laws as long as they don't market their food outside the group.
Bonus
On Ash Wednesday I sat behind one of our parishioners who raises and markets Freezer-ready beef. After Mass, he was telling me that his phone has been ringing off the hook. He is getting LOTS of inquiries.
Due to business and feed constraints, he can only market X number of beef carcasses a month. One of those constraints is the number of slots at the local slaughterhouse. His regular customers get higher priority. Extras are either put on stand-by or allowed to place a deposit on some month in the distant future.
The point being, the potential customers are not focusing on the cost. They are focusing on the availability. That is feeding-frenzy behavior and is potentially very profitable.
That could come back and bite my friend. Peter Senge in his book The Fifth Discipline talks about how people respond to shortages. They might order beef or place deposits with three or more different suppliers with the intention of cancelling the extra orders when the first actually delivers OR honoring the second two suppliers and "scalping" the product on the open market. That is one benefit to demanding a hefty deposit. It discourages that kind of speculative behaviors.
It is also an advantage to putting excess demand on "stand-by". Customers who renege on their commitments are not a big deal as long as their is another customer ready to step in and purchase their beef.
Still learning here. I found out earlier this year that the local processor is booking slots 12-14 months out. I have a lot of people who are offering to buy a quarter or a half, but I can't provide it. I can sell to the stockyard but the net profit will be much lower than selling beef. Our pastures are greening up, so I will try to hold out until later this year to see what prices do.
ReplyDeleteI have helped slaughter/process hogs but I wouldn't dream about taking on a cow.
If slaughtering a mature cow, best to find a butcher that has a commercial vacuum packaging machine. The beef will last a year + frozen without degradation.
ReplyDeleteI got my half steer in the fall. Farmer was very busy then, too. Next best slot he could do was 4 months out, I'm sure thats changed.
ReplyDeleteRe: Californias laws - I noticed that years ago with auto's... Every auto, is california emmissions certified. Really is an over-reach if you ask me, but Ibsee the distinction - industry is voluntarily doing it, its not mandated. This also would not be an issue if the industry was more regional, and not national. I can dag gum guarantee the pig farmers here in TN don't give a whit about californias laws. And your advice is the answer! Find a local guy. Let Hormel raise their prices... Voting with your wallet is effective and satisfying. I love whistling passed the beef aisle in my grocery store... I paid $5.45/lb for 100% pure angus: roasts, steaks, ground.
I just checked auction pricing and California is 70% higher than Kentucky prices for 600# steers. Good for producers, not good for consumers
ReplyDeleteIt is not necessarily good for the producers because inspectors can ding them for non-compliance. They produce less meat because of space-per-animal mandates and are at risk of an inspector writing-them-up for some chicken-shit requirement like (making this up) being unable to provide documentation that the building is receiving one full air turn-over every fifteen minutes.
DeleteThe drones who get cushy government jobs are the ones who profit. The price of the animals probably went up because supply was choked and producer costs went up.