{"id":89295,"date":"2020-04-09T03:04:22","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T09:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/coronavirus-sparks-run-on-chicks-agricultural-products\/"},"modified":"2020-04-09T03:04:22","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T09:04:22","slug":"coronavirus-sparks-run-on-chicks-agricultural-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/coronavirus-sparks-run-on-chicks-agricultural-products\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus sparks run on chicks, agricultural products"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Whittney
Whittney Young, pet and chicken department manager at the IFA Country Stores in Riverton, Utah, sells chicks to customers Thursday, March 26, 2020. The agricultural sector is seeing a run on supplies including chicken feed, horse feed, dog food and a higher interest for chicks.<\/span>Steve Griffin\/The Deseret News via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Ogden Intermountain Farmers Association store sold 1,000 chicks in one day, and West Haven\u2019s Dallas Green Farm and Home sold 350 chicks during its \u201cChick Days\u201d event recently.<\/p>\n

Katy Cox and her family have been raising chickens the last four years as a hobby, and she was stunned to discover the Riverton IFA store was out of chicks when she went to replenish her flock.<\/p>\n

When more chicks arrived at the store, Cox went to pick out the additions, learning there was a six chick per family limit. Although she only intended to get four, she bought three Americanas and three black australorps.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were not panic buying, but there was a big sign that said six chicks per family and it was all roped off,\u201d Cox said. \u201cI asked the woman at the store if people were hoarding chicks and she told me you would not believe it. You have to come right when they open and put your name on a list.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox said it surprised her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is kind of a herd mentality. If one person does it then everyone does it \u2026 it is definitely different times. People have never gone through anything like this. There was how life looked before COVID-19 and then life after COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox said she worries people are buying the cute chicks but don\u2019t realize the kind care they require. If they survive, they turn into mature chickens that also require a lot of maintenance.<\/p>\n

\"Whittney
Whittney Young, pet and chicken department manager at the IFA Country Stores in Riverton, Utah, sells chicks to customers Thursday, March 26, 2020. The agricultural sector is seeing a run on supplies including chicken feed, horse feed, dog food and a higher interest for chicks.<\/span>Steve Griffin\/The Deseret News via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThey grow up and become stinky and gross,\u201d she said. \u201cThere may be a day when we have wild chickens all over Riverton.\u201d<\/p>\n

It usually takes six months before the chicks mature enough to start laying eggs.<\/p>\n

When the rush happened at Dallas Green, one employee wryly commented on the run, saying he wasn\u2019t sure why it was happening. \u201cIt\u2019s not like they can eat them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Braden Smith, the store\u2019s manager, said they were supposed to have received 250 chicks for Chick Days but got 100 more by accident.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey shipped us an extra box with live birds and we gladly accepted it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On March 18, the day of the earthquake, Smith said there was a long line of people waiting for propane.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe almost sold through our tank. There is no issue with the supply of propane,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

He received another shipment of 30 chicks and was going to limit chicks for purchasers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will normally last all week,\u201d he said, adding he was not going to let someone buy all of them.<\/p>\n

His store is also selling more chicken feed, and when one product runs out, people move onto the next in the supply chain.<\/p>\n

He said the panic-buying creates a bullwhip effect that makes it harder for suppliers to keep up. The supply, he said, is there, it just takes time to get to the store.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is a couple of things going on,\u201d Smith said. \u201cPeople want to feel like they have control in a situation where you really don\u2019t have control.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Katy
Katy Cox buys chicks at the IFA Country Stores in Riverton, Utah, Thursday, March 26, 2020. The agricultural sector is seeing a run on supplies including chicken feed, horse feed, dog food and a higher interest for chicks.<\/span>Steve Griffin\/The Deseret News via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Jill Singleton, IFA\u2019s category manager for poultry and rabbits, said there has been intense purchasing of chicks across the company\u2019s chain of stores, particularly along the Wasatch Front.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sold more in three hours in the Ogden store than we would on our biggest Saturday,\u201d Singleton said.<\/p>\n

She, like Cox, expressed concern that some chicks maybe going to novice owners who don\u2019t know the work required to care for the animals.<\/p>\n

Instructions on IFA chick boxes will walk the owners through the requirements \u2013 such as keeping the young birds at a temperature between 90 and 95 degrees the first week of their life.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting chicks is a big commitment,\u201d she said. \u201cEducation is a big piece of what we do at IFA. Everyone should read the chick boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chicks may be in short supply because orders from hatcheries are placed in December by companies like IFA and Dallas Green. December was well before the coronavirus was a public health issue and well before the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Smith said it will probably be a couple months before orders for extra chicks beyond routine shipments are a reality. Ron Gibson, president of the Utah Farm Bureau, said the pandemic is instilling a big question mark for the agricultural industry and how it might shift and adapt.<\/p>\n

As an example, 42% of all dairy products in the United States go to the food service sector such as restaurants and hotels \u2013 where demand has dropped off significantly. Another 25% goes to exports, which have also plunged.<\/p>\n

On the flip side, demand is up in grocery stores, which are having a hard time keeping products on the shelves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not that it is not available, it is just being sold in a different channel,\u201d Gibson said.<\/p>\n

Gibson, a dairy farm operator, said what remains unknown is how long the pandemic lasts and if the agricultural sector can shift enough to adjust to the change in supply channels.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we will have to see is if domestic demand at the grocery stores is enough to settle out what used to through food service,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The same tectonic effects are happening with the beef market, Gibson said.<\/p>\n

Hamburger sales are up at drive-thru restaurants, but premium cuts of beef were primarily destined for hotels and restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are not many people who order a ribeye steak at a drive-thru so the premium cuts of beef are struggling,\u201d Gibson said.<\/p>\n

As for Utah\u2019s farmers and ranchers, Gibson assured residents they should not worry the coronavirus is affecting production. \u201cI can say there is no concern about your food security. We are planting crops right now \u2026 I don\u2019t know of one producer that is affected or has changed their plans for the growing season. \u2026 That is our job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back at Dallas Green, however, Smith noted there has also been a run on garden seed.<\/p>\n

He said even though it is just the end of March, he has sold 96% of the seeds he sold all last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a huge increase. We usually keep our seeds out to June or July,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

The rush on products has been challenging to Smith as manager of the store and trying to juggle inventory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to think I have a pretty good crystal ball for the store, but this year has been keeping me up at night,\u201d he said. \u201cI think this is going to go on for at least a couple months.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that his business is thriving and creating \u201cgood\u201d problems and mixed emotions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly have felt guilty about selling so much stuff because of the pandemic. I don\u2019t want to profit off of other people\u2019s misfortune, but what we do is important to people in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whittney Young, pet and chicken department manager at the IFA Country Stores in Riverton, Utah, sells chicks to customers Thursday, March 26, 2020. The agricultural sector is seeing a run on supplies including chicken feed, horse feed, dog food and a higher interest for chicks.Steve Griffin\/The Deseret News via AP The Ogden Intermountain Farmers Association […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-89295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89295"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=89295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}