US bacon reserves hit 50 year low

[John F Kennedy III]

My Walmart, Publix, Kroger, and Asian market don't carry it. I keep forgetting to stop in Ingles to look for it. They might have it, they have all kinds of weird shit.

Internet?

 

[Suzanimal]

You need a time machine if you want good bacon. Everything I see in the store is at least 40% fat.

The bacon fat makes good salad dressing.

Suzanimal's Hot Bacon dressing

when you finish frying your bacon, add vinegar and a little brown sugar to the grease and then dump it on your salad. I don't measure, I just eyeball it. With those three ingredients, there's no way to mess it up. Sometimes, I don't even add the sugar or the vinegar. Bacon grease is a perfectly acceptable salad dressing.

 

[Suzanimal]

Internet?

Someone might steal my mail order bacon. Then I'd have to whoop some ass. If I caught someone stealing bacon from my mailbox do you think I would get arrested if I made 'em squeal like a pig or, in this case, moo like a cow? I think the bacon defense would totally work.

 

[Suzanimal]

This thread got me thinking about the weird stuff at Ingles and did you know they have canned bread? And it's actually pretty yummy. My brother bought me a can for Christmas once (big spender) and that's where he got it. I've since purchased it for a few other people and it's always a hit - especially with Spongebob Squarepant's fans.

 

[P3ter_Griffin]

That works out for me because I usually cut my bacon into chunks anyway.

Turkey "bacon" doesn't deserve to be called bacon...or turkey.

Trukey/good + bacon/divine = nasty shit <--- it doesn't add up

Shit leather would be a decent name. I'm not sure how easy it would be to market that though.

 

[John F Kennedy III]

The bacon fat makes good salad dressing.

Suzanimal's Hot Bacon dressing

when you finish frying your bacon, add vinegar and a little brown sugar to the grease and then dump it on your salad. I don't measure, I just eyeball it. With those three ingredients, there's no way to mess it up. Sometimes, I don't even add the sugar or the vinegar. Bacon grease is a perfectly acceptable salad dressing.

Sounds orgasmic.

 

[John F Kennedy III]

Someone might steal my mail order bacon. Then I'd have to whoop some ass. If I caught someone stealing bacon from my mailbox do you think I would get arrested if I made 'em squeal like a pig or, in this case, moo like a cow? I think the bacon defense would totally work.

If you catch someone stealing your mail order bacon you can then make bacon out of "long pig"

 

[opal]

This thread got me thinking about the weird stuff at Ingles and did you know they have canned bread? And it's actually pretty yummy. My brother bought me a can for Christmas once (big spender) and that's where he got it. I've since purchased it for a few other people and it's always a hit - especially with Spongebob Squarepant's fans.

I used to bake bread in cans sometimes.. dark breads mostly (pumpernickel) It was hard to find an appropriate can that was not ridged somewhere

 

[Suzanimal]

Shit leather would be a decent name. I'm not sure how easy it would be to market that though.

That's probably why they chose to go with turkey bacon.


I went to Walmart and didn't get bacon. They were out but I saw the spot where it's suppose to be. The whole store looked ransacked today, they probably had it but they just need to restock. I'm going to try again later in the week.

 

[P3ter_Griffin]

Did some sniffing to see what was going on but came back mostly empty handed:


http://www.bbc.com/news/business-38836782

Pork belly reserves had hit about 8.2 million kg in December, according to the government figures, compared with about 22.7 million kg a year earlier.

That was put down to fresh supplies being used as quickly as they were being produced, meaning less for freezing and stockpiling.
'More pigs than ever'

The lower levels of pork reserves were pointed out by the Ohio Pork Council, a lobby group for pig farmers.

But it later claimed that the observation - as well as the setting up of a baconshortage.com website (which now seems to have been taken down) - was not intended to create concern.

"Today's pig farmers are setting historic records by producing more pigs than ever," Ohio Pork Council president Rich Deaton said.

https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/ldpm271/ldp-m-271.pdf?v=42754

December Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report Shows Robust Productivity Gains in 2016
The Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report issued by USDA on December 23 showed the highest hog inventory since 1943, and the highest recorded breeding herd productivity. The inventory of all hogs and pigs was 71.5 million head, 4 percent higher than numbers for the same period a year ago. Litter rates for the September-November pig crop were record-high, averaging 10.63 pigs per litter, compared with 10.53 in September-November 2015. This breaks the record established in the June-August quarter of 2016.

https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/8866-agri-pulse-daybreak-for-feb-6-2017

USDA: There’s no bacon shortage. The news of record low pork belly supplies in a January cold storage report sparked fears of a bacon shortage and price spikes in grocery stores. Neither is true, according to USDA livestock analyst Shayle Shagam.

While it’s true that the report showed that pork belly supplies were at their lowest level since the 1950s when USDA began keeping track, Shagam stressed that the situation was only temporary. In fact, USDA is predicting that pork production will increase this year by 5 percent for a new record high.

Wholesale pork belly prices rose in the first four weeks of the year, Shagam said in an audio posting, but he stressed that was a “short term phenomenon” and did not translate into higher bacon prices. Supplies will continue to grow and Shagam said he expects that will push retail bacon prices down.

No explanation on why this is a 'short term phenomenon' or how reserves would build back up if indeed supplies are being used as quickly as they are produced.

Source for the original chart. 10 year data does not factor in from May 2016 on.

Historical Cold Storage Data

 

[oyarde]

This thread got me thinking about the weird stuff at Ingles and did you know they have canned bread? And it's actually pretty yummy. My brother bought me a can for Christmas once (big spender) and that's where he got it. I've since purchased it for a few other people and it's always a hit - especially with Spongebob Squarepant's fans.

My experience with bread in a can was K rations and C Rations , only the Pound cake was good , the other two not so much .

 

[GunnyFreedom]

I used to bake bread in cans sometimes.. dark breads mostly (pumpernickel) It was hard to find an appropriate can that was not ridged somewhere

 

[devil21]

This is the kind of news we hear right before they crank up prices. Remember the great egg famine of a couple of years ago? Bacon and eggs. Hmmm.

Ding ding ding winner! Often false narratives about scarcity to explain price inflation. Expect these sorts of stories to become more and more common. Though in the case of bacon, we can't seriously think that the largest bacon producing companies can be sold to the Chinese (Smithfield, eg) and not expect them to send much of it back to China, creating shortages here. Signs of the end of the higher standard of living that Americans are used to as the end of the FRN global standard quickens.

 

[tod evans]

Live weight is under $0.70..

Fuck big pork! Buy local.

 

[Suzanimal]

I FINALLY had beef bacon!!!

Here's how it went down. Mr Animal didn't get me anything for Valentine's Day mad:) and said he felt bad about it (he should have, I was very generous) so on Wednesday he volunteered to run to the store for me and he brought home some beef bacon. I fried it up right away. I didn't tell the kids it was made from beef but I did tell them I was trying a different brand.

Here are our reviews:
Mr Animal said there was no difference.
I thought it was saltier than normal bacon and texturally, it reminded me more of fried ham than bacon.
My number one son gobbled his up and said he would need more before he could give me an honest assessment.
My number two son thought it was very different and didn't like it.

 

[devil21]

I haven't seen the beef bacon around here (Charlotte) anywhere. What was the cost difference compared to same weight of pork bacon?

 

[Suzanimal]

I haven't seen the beef bacon around here (Charlotte) anywhere. What was the cost difference compared to same weight of pork bacon?

It was more expensive. I think Mr Animal said he paid 5.99 for 12 oz of beef bacon but he bought it at the expensive grocery store. Pork bacon is around 2.99 a pound around here. It's not worth the extra expense for us. It takes at least 2 lbs of bacon to feed my crew - 2 teenage sons and Mr Animal.

 

[oyarde]

One day , after I get all of the silver and gold I will start on pork bellies . Then I can deny California bacon until CalExit is complete.

 

[P3ter_Griffin]

January 31st 2017 print is 14,014. Down from 17,986 on December 31st 2016 and 60,698 for January 31st 2016. I could see the growth in hog factory farming playing a role in this, they could have a more steady harvest throughout the year compared to dealing with seasons like traditional farming. Just speculation though...