Mainstreet Radio's Kathryn Herzog pays a visit to one small town butcher shop, where business is making for some long days. Business at meat markets and butcher shops across the state is booming during holiday season. With pork prices as low as they've been in more than twenty five years, sales of pork are on the rise.
MARY TESSMER: Good afternoon. Can I help you?
KATHRYN HERZOG: A line of customers trails out the door of Dan and Mary Tessmer's meat market in Richmond, Minnesota. The Tessmers say they're selling pork for the cheapest price since they began slaughtering hogs in 1983. Mary Tessmer does some of the meat cutting and runs the counter. She says while business is good these days, she's heard little feedback from customers about the low prices.
MARY TESSMER: They'll say, we hear that pork is cheap. And some of them think it's a shame that the farmer's not getting any more money than that for what they-- for a whole hog. But it's not a lot. I mean, it's not everyone that comes in.
KATHRYN HERZOG: Are people surprised at the low price that you can charge?
MARY TESSMER: No, I don't think a lot of people pay real close attention to meat per pound. They may look at a whole hog and say, that's pretty cheap if we order a whole hog for it. But I don't think they really look at too much price per pound, from what I see.
KATHRYN HERZOG: The Tessmers' business is rather unique. They see both sides of the scale. Not only do they sell meat over the counter, they also raise their own cattle and hogs for slaughter. Dan does his own slaughtering and provides his services to neighboring farmers.
DAN TESSMER: I usually go to their place and kill them. Go right out in the farm, shoot them, and skin them, and gut them out right at the farm, as many as they can get rid of and as many as they can get in a locker, as many as we'd have room for.
KATHRYN HERZOG: Normally, Dan is booked six weeks in advance. But this year, he says he's never been so busy.
DAN TESSMER: We're into March, April, as far as butchering cattle and hogs. We're about maybe 40, 50 hogs behind. Sometimes, when pig prices are high, we're usually only maybe a couple of pigs behind. But because they're so low, everybody wants them butchered.
KATHRYN HERZOG: An oversupply of hogs has flooded the market, causing prices to plummet, even though sales of pork have risen 7% over the past year. The next few weeks could prove critical for many farmers, who are just hanging on to their business. Slaughtering more animals than normal may be playing a role as farmers seek to reduce the number of hogs they need to feed.
DAN TESSMER: People are trying to get rid of as many pigs as they can through friends and relatives because they can maybe get a little more out of a relative than they can out of the packer. So they're trying to get pigs butchered. And a guy can only do so much in a day.
KATHRYN HERZOG: The low prices are keeping Dan busy these days, driving from farm to farm, tending his own animals, and running the store. But he says it's not just the butchers who are busy. Everyone involved in the slaughter of hogs is overwhelmed with work.
DAN TESSMER: The gut-truck driver, they pick up all the stuff we don't keep-- the offal, O-F-F-A-L. That's all the stuff that you don't usually eat, all the inside parts and the skin, all the fat and bones. He said every place they go is way behind. So we're not the only ones. Everybody else is, too.
KATHRYN HERZOG: As long as pork prices remain low, sales of pork will remain strong. While some segments of the industry are benefiting from this boom, it's not clear at this point how many hog farmers will survive. I'm Kathryn Herzog, Minnesota Public Radio.
SPEAKER: How many pounds was it?
MARY TESSMER: About 2 and 1/2.
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