Joe Spera, owner of Al's Meat Market, unpacks meat in the cooler of his store in Wilmette, Ill. Butchers and grocers are facing higher prices for meat due to supply-chain issues amid the coronavirus outbreak. Some meat packagers and retailers in the Mahoning Valley, however, say consumers should have no worries about shortages as supplies are bountiful. Nonetheless, some local grocery stores have put limits on meat sales. AP

Mahoning Valley residents buying meat at grocery stores may notice signs limiting the amount of products they can buy.

These limits — along with empty shelves — give the impression of a problem with the meat supply.

But some local meat packagers and retailers say they are not worried about a shortage as the livestock farms they buy from show no signs of slowing down.

The signs in some stores are meant to discourage meat hoarding because of supply-chain problems in other parts of the nation.

“In recent days, our supermarkets have experienced increased guest demand for products in our meat department. To discourage bulk purchasing and ensure that we have product available for as many guests as possible, we are temporarily limiting the number of ground beef and advertised meat products guests can purchase at once,” Giant Eagle spokeswoman Jannah Jablonowski said in a statement.

“In a single transaction, guests are able to purchase two packages of ground beef and up to two of each meat item advertised in our weekly circular.”

Worry about a meat shortage also comes from the announcement that some American meat-packing plants were closing because of COVID-19.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture, however, said no Ohio plants have closed — so Ohio should not see a shortage.

“The closure of meat-packing plants across the nation is creating a widespread problem in the industry. If the producers do not have plants to send their animals, the inability to harvest the animals creates a backup,” said Shelby Croft, spokesperson for the department, in a statement. “No meat-packing plants in Ohio have closed, but some Ohio producers send their animals to facilities out of state.”

WORKING FAST

Local meat packagers are working as fast as they can to slaughter and package meat to sell.

“One farmer still has 300 fat cattle,” said Brad Polen, owner of Polen Meats in East Canton, adding that’s more cattle than his facility will likely handle for the rest of the year. “I’m not worried at all.”

Polen Meats gets the majority of its meat from Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. In the last six weeks, since the pandemic began, it has slaughtered 65 to 70 cattle to sell, which he said is about as much as he slaughtered in all of last year.

“It’s a trying time. Our employees are fatigued; we’re working 12-hour days, five days a week, ” said Polen, who is trying to keep up with the demand. He also said he has quite a few hog farmers lined up to buy from as well.

According to Haley Shoemaker with the Ohio State University Extension office in Canfield, there isn’t a shortage of meat — there’s just a lag in the process.

“U.S. and local farmers are still raising livestock, meaning that there is no shortage of livestock being raised,” said Shoemaker.

“However, we are experiencing supply-chain disruptions that are stemming from processing plants either being closed or run at lowered capacities — meaning they are not able to process meat at the rates they normally would. This is then felt by the farmer when they have livestock ready for processing, but have nowhere to send them because the processing plant simply doesn’t have the room.”

Shoemaker said the farmers don’t have the option to close as the livestock still needs to be cared for.

Some farmers are working with nutritionists to formulate maintenance diets for the animals while they wait for the plants to have open space, while some are marketing directly to the consumer.

BUY LOCAL

“Right now is a great time to support your local producers and processors,” Shoemaker said.

Sylvio Pelligrino, owner of Pelligrino Pastures in Ashtabula, sells a lot of his supply to Mahan Packing in Bristolville and said his farm isn’t large enough to really feel impacted by COVID-19.

“We have about 12 to 16 cattle at a time, we’ve had no issue having things taken care of,” Pelligrino said.

He said he believes this area will not see much of a delay or shortage unless people shop at the bigger stores. He said the farms that meat comes from are much larger and often need to sell hundreds of cattle at a time.

“Those impacted will be the larger stores that get their stuff from out West, but everyone I’ve talked to here are doing good. This is all local beef and pork that go to local butchers, and local people buy it,” Pelligrino said.

Although bigger stores may be seeing a delay in meat shipments, these stores want to assure customers that the product will be available to them.

“It is important to note that these temporary purchase limits are not indicative of meat-supply issues but are based on increased demand by some guests,” the statement from Giant Eagle continued.

“We work with several suppliers to provide our guests with a wide variety of options, which helps us maintain consistent product availability. Giant Eagle guests can continue to have confidence in the ongoing availability of meat and other essential items in our stores.”

bshiller@tribtoday.com