Shawn Mars of Mars Family Farm, says consumers are looking for alternatives to grocery stores where there are sometimes shortages of meat. He says they are often turning directly to farmers.
All Mars’ pigs are pre-sold through September. Demand has been so high, it has created a bottleneck at butcher shops.
“Usually I’d sell a pig and a half a week,” Mars said. “Then, I sold six pigs in a day. And then people are calling and asking for more. And OK, I can see something is happening here.”
When Mars checked with his butcher, many time slots had already been taken.
“So they’ve kind of disrupted the supply chain at the small level, and now that the small level of butcher shops and everything is so over taxed, people who normally do business in there are having a hard time finding their own spot,” he says.
For him it means he must limit the number of young pigs he raises this summer.
“How can we grow if we can’t get them butchered? So it’s really hard to grow the farm if we don’t have the ability to process the meat some place.”
Mars suggests a change in state rules that would temporarily allow custom meat processors to sell meat. Now they’re only allowed to process meat for the owner of the animal. Mars says that could help alleviate the bottle neck. He says there would have to be disclosures about differences in inspection requirements.
Another possible solution would be building his own butcher facility, and he’s working on it.
