Farmers, butchers going 'full-tilt' to keep up with growing demand for local meat

Shelley Dixon'sfreezer is normally full to the brim with roasts, steaks and ground beef, but today it's nearly empty.Since New Brunswick's isolation measures were enacted, the beef farmer is selling her stock as quickly as she can have it butchered.

The Dixon farm is in Point de Bute, where Shelley and her husband, Roy, have spent the last 40-plusyears growing a handful of cows into a herd of about 400. The couple's two adult children live within minutes of the family farm and both work there.

"We've probably had about a 300 per cent increase in our sales over the last two months and I think that there's a whole lot of things that contribute to that," said Dixon.

With restaurants closed and school kids home for lunch, people are cooking more at home as well asstocking up in order to limit trips to the grocery store.

"I think the biggest part of it is people are really trying to support local," said Dixon.

Farmers, butchers struggle to keep up as demand increases for local beef during COVID-19

4 years ago

Duration 4:01

Cattle producers across New Brunswick are struggling to keep up with the demand for local beef during the pandemic.

Dixon normallysells the beef herself directly to her customers at the Sackville Farmers market, but with the market closed Dixon set up a pick up spot in a parking lot on Saturday mornings.

The biggest problem is Dixon's butcher can't keep up with the demand.

'It doubled ourbusiness'

Jay Boudreau's farm and butcher shop is far busier than ever. He's the operations manager at Boudreau Meat Market and the fourth generation in his family to work on the farm.

"We're one of the lucky ones I guess, it kind of doubled our business."

As a butcher and a farmer,Boudreauknows longtime customers like Dixon would like more cattle processed, but there are only so many hours in the day.

"We try to squeeze in one or two per week more, sometimes you can only try," he said.

Uncertainty ahead

Cedric MacLeod, beef producer and opportunities co-ordinator with New Brunswick Cattle Producers saidprocessors are goingflat out, while demand is rising.

"The numbers aren't all in just yet but I think in large part what we've lost on the restaurant side we've made up in consumer demand at the household level," said MacLeod.

What concerns MacLeod is how disruptions in the supply chain in other parts of the country will affect beef prices.

By the end of April, 917 employees had tested positive for COVID-19, at the Cargill meat-packing plant in High River, Alta.,including a worker in her 60s who died. It is now operating again after a two-week shut down.

But the temporary closureof one of Canada's largest meat-processing plants created a backlog of beef cows that weren't butchered.

MacLeod said cattle and calf prices have remained strong throughout the pandemic, but he can't help but wonder what will happen later in the year.

"There's a lot of cattle on feed that don't necessarily have a home and that in itself creates that uncertainty," he said.

MacLeod said his association has been lobbying the governmentfor a price insurance program for three yearsto help mitigate some of the uncertainty that is a constant challenge to beef farmers.