HARD LUCK FOR LOCAVORES.

It's not just the big retailers dealing with logistics.  Local farmers struggle amid shortage of butchers and meat processors.

Local farmers say there are challenges getting their farmstead cattle into meat lockers right now because of the labor shortage brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The impacts could soon impact everyone shopping for beef.

At 4T Acres Farm in Burlington, Jean Gruenert sells Scottish Highland cattle directly to consumers.

"I’ve got them sold, I just can’t get them into the butcher shop," said Gruenert. "They’re not as much of a shortage of meat as there is a shortage of processing."

Note, we are not talking about the industrial packing houses that were corona hot spots early in the pandemic. These are the artisanal butcher shops using traditional craft methods.

Meat processing facilities are backed up - short staffed and overwhelmed amid the ongoing labor shortage brought on by the pandemic. At the same time, the art of butchery is an aging trade.

Over at Ray's Butcher Shoppe on Milwaukee's southwest side, business is booming. But, young people are showing less and less interest in learning about the important craft of butchery.

"A lot of our guys have been here for 15-20 years," said Scott Podd, part-owner of Ray's Butcher Shoppe. "Mike back there in the meat department, he’s been here about 23 years, Andy’s been here about 20 years and I’ve been here about 20 years myself."

It's part of the reason Phil Schmidt, President of the Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors, says groups are pushing to have butchery brought into trade schools and technical colleges.

"Maybe more people would get into it, learn more about it," said Podd, when asked about that idea. "Right now, if you don’t really walk into a place and ask ‘hey do you guys have a job opening,’ it’s kind of hard to get into. Kind of hard to start."

Deer hunting season is about to begin, and the stress on the butcher shops is likely to increase.