Missing beef? Here’s how coronavirus meat shortages may impact your Memorial Day BBQ

After meat processing plants have closed across the U.S. due to coronavirus outbreaks, a shortage of meat has led to higher prices and limits on what you can buy.

That means your Memorial Day BBQ could look very different this year.

Usinger’s Famous Sausage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin told WISN that it ran out of meat to make hot dogs for Memorial Day.

“We ran out of beef. So we’re just getting in a new supply of beef. So it’ll take us until next week to get ‘em made,” a company spokesperson told WISN.

“The beef supplies are very, very tight,” Bruce Pritzlaff, president of Pritzlaff Meats in Wisconsin told WISN. Pritzlaff said he’s selling meat to grocery stores because they’re running out.

Coronavirus closes plants

Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods, JBS, and Cargill “closed more than a dozen” meat processing plants due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The CDC reported earlier in May that workers in 115 meat plants in 19 states tested positive for COVID-19. There were 4,913 confirmed cases and 20 deaths.

Livestock, including more than 10 million hens and more than 10 million pigs, will also have to be killed due to slaughterhouse shutdowns, The Guardian reported.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in late April designating meat plants as “essential” and compelling them to stay open, The Washington Post reported.

Limits on meat purchases

The meat shortages have led to big box and local grocery stores putting limitations on items.

Costco temporarily put a limit of three meat purchases per Costco member due to the shortage.

Comptons Foodland in Tennessee also put a limit on meat purchases, News Channel 5 reported.

“We put limits on meats just so that we can assure that everybody has a chance to get something,” Comptons Foodland Assistant Store Manager Dolly Cannon told News Channel 5. “If there was anything that we couldn’t get from our actual warehouse, there are outside suppliers that we can go to make sure we have plenty of product.”

Higher meat prices

But that also can mean higher prices for meat.

“When you have a demand as high as we had it, prices go up when you have shortages,” Cannon told News Channel 5.

Call’s Meat Market in Hurricane, West Virginia, has been trying to keep store shelves stocked with meat, according to 13 WOWK.

“Unfortunately it took this epidemic for us to get people to come out and actually try their local products,” Call’s Meat Market Owner Leanne Call told the TV station. “We’re very appreciative of the support we’ve seen in our community. When you’re supporting our business, you’re supporting a lot of local farmers, people in your community.”

This story was originally published May 23, 2020 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Missing beef? Here’s how coronavirus meat shortages may impact your Memorial Day BBQ."