LITTLE ROCK, Ark — A growing number of major grocery sellers, like Kroger, are now limiting how much meat shoppers may buy as concerns escalate about meat supplies in the country.
Local farmers weighed in on what their supply looks like.
Rabbit Ridge Farms owners Angela and Alan Mahan pride themselves in raising animals the natural way.
“Very similar to the way that my grandfather grew animals here 100 years ago,” Alan said.
Grocery giants have announced limits on purchases of meat products, but the owners said that’s not necessarily the case for our local farmers.
“The only thing we’ve been short on is beef, and it’s just hard to forecast how much beef is going to be needed a year in advance,” Alan said.
If customers continue buying the amount of meat they did last year, there should be enough.
“What we’re having processed in May, that date was set a year ago. That’s the demand for locally grown meats in Arkansas,” Alan said.
Many local farms have the option to order products right from their website and they’re seeing an increase in demand.
“We're not really experiencing a shortage from the point of what we're used to. We are seeing a shortage from the aspect of new people wanting to buy from us,” owner of JV Farms Jay Lee said.
Local farmers have made efforts to ensure the community has an adequate supply of meat.
“We even just got off the phone earlier trying to get some more animals into a processor,” he said.
The farms hope customers will think of them first, to put local dollars back into our economy.
If people only buy what they need, they expect to have enough supply.
You can find more information about Rabbit Ridge Farm and JV Farms on their websites.