Increase in Poultry, Egg Prices have Hurt both Utah Consumers and Businesses

Jun 07, 2022

As cases of Avian Flu continue to sweep across farms, killing birds in the process, Utah businesses and consumers have been heavily impacted by the supply chain and its increase in prices.

Tom Ferguson, owner of Valley Market, has experienced first-hand the devastating impact Avian Flu has had on his business. Valley Market is an independently-owned grocery store located in Eden known for its chicken, but due to the cost of said chicken, the Valley Market deli has had to stop selling particular items.

This week alone, the cost for each pound of chicken tenders has gone up two more dollars and according to Ferguson, they’re just not making any more money.

Dave Davis with the Utah Food Industry Association says that some poultry products have doubled in price within the last six months. Davis also says that stores across Utah have been raising their prices, but he believes that we’re probably at the peak of the price cycle right about now.

According to the Division of Wildlife Resources, there are six reported counties that have seen Avian Flu cases among wild birds. Cache county, Utah county, and Salt Lake county are the three counties who have had domestic cases according to the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.

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Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

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