We are all familiar with the pending supply chain shortages and price increases. Not to pile on, but recently I was in contact with an insider whose family is in key positions in several poultry plants. We’ll call him “Elliott” to protect his identity. He would not let me name the plants his family worked for but did share that there were several, mostly in the midwest/upper south.
Elliott laid out some of his evidence in a lengthy Twitter thread where he said the “current situation is more dire than most people think.” He even went so far as to say we could see a “total collapse” of the food supply. I asked Elliott if his insider knowledge applied to other poultry or meat plants, and he said others were “running into the same issues.”
The problems originated because of the vaccine mandates first and foremost, and that it was striking the industry on multiple fronts: USDA inspectors and the factory workers. The plants pay for the USDA inspectors and cannot function without them. But currently, there is a significant shortage of inspectors. Usually, there are about 6,500 inspectors; at present, there is a shortage of 500-700. One inspector at his family’s plants normally covers three plants, but now he is inspecting nine. In keeping with the mantra of the Biden regime, though, there is no crisis. The USDA is covering up the shortage and only lists openings for 57 inspectors.
Meanwhile, those inspectors still on the job received a memo last week saying they had until last Friday (November 19) to get vaccinated, despite the original (now, apparently, delayed) deadline of December 4. According to Elliott, a “sizeable plurality” of inspectors (he thinks between 25% and 35%) refuse to take the jab. If the number finally fired reaches 35%, that would amount to roughly 2,200 USDA inspectors disappearing. Elliott thinks if the actual mandate is put into place, the number will be much higher because many people were beginning to “put their foot down” against everything related to the China Virus, including testing. This, in Elliott’s words, would be “catastrophic.” It could result in a massive reduction in quality. Already, he noted, managers had to take up positions on the lines. Even the CEO is being considered to do line duty. If a plant is too thinly stretched in its quality assurance, a complete shutdown will occur until quality assurance positions are fully staffed.
Moreover, China Virus testing will cost companies $500,000 a year. This will be passed on to consumers, which have already seen poultry prices rise by 10%. Elliott thinks a typical chicken package in the grocery store will increase in price by another 20-25%. Beef prices will be even higher. Moreover, since most of the customers of his family’s plants are mass buyers such as schools and prisons, it will be a “double whammy” on the taxpayers, who will pay these increased costs in the inevitable higher taxes. And then there are the rising costs of the palettes for shipping—up already $150 a palette from two years ago.
Then there are the shortages of fertilizer, with prices increasing by 200% on ammonia. All in all, a “total disaster” for family farms and small plants are on the horizon. Needless to say, Joe Biden doesn’t seem to care a whit.
