Matt Henley says his clean beef business in Mt. Gilead may just be an indicator of how tariffs and inflation might end up affecting consumers at the grocery store.
Henley and his brother run Pee Dee Premium, but his family has been farming for generations.
“Grandpa bought the farm in the mid-’50s, and we grew up here,” Henley told Channel 9’s Eli Brand.
Their operation uses no chemicals or injections, and their cattle is 100% grass-fed. Because of his clean beef practices, Henley’s costs and subsequent prices are higher than most conventional beef farmers.
He says there isn’t as much of a gap as there once was between his premium products and other beef.
“Used to be when I was just starting, I knew that if I took what was at a grocery store and doubled the price, it might get me close to what my costs were,” Henley said. “Now that we know what our costs are, I think we can hold these prices for a long time.”
If you buy online, Pee Dee Premium charges about $12 per pound per 80/20 beef, which is about double what you’ll see in places like Walmart and Food Lion. But Henley says his prices will remain more stable in the face of tariffs because he doesn’t buy chemicals or other tariffed products that other farmers do.
Henley says more conventional farmers he knows are already worried about passing their higher prices to consumers.
“The chemicals that go on the animal, the chemicals that go on the ground, a lot of those are imported, so they’re starting to see that,” Henley said.
UNC Charlotte economics professor Matthew Metzgar says changes could be coming, not just with beef but with produce and other grocery store products. But he says it likely won’t be because of any direct tariffs on food.
“The things that made up the packaging could be. Those are things people don’t think about,” Metzgar said. “Those items, like if it’s packaged in an aluminum can and we have an aluminum tariff, then the price of that good went up even if the price of the contents, the food may not be subject to a tariff.”
Henley says all of those unknowns have traditional farmers worried.
“They know a wave is coming, but I don’t think it has actually hit yet, so I don’t think anyone has hit the panic button,” Henley said.
He says he’s seeing more business at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market, where he sets up every weekend. He thinks as prices rise, more people are looking for direct-to-consumer options like this.
“I think the tariff stuff and the inflation keep pushing everybody to be concerned about what they’re spending in the grocery store,” Henley said.
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