[UPDATE 5/6/2020, 6:43 a.m.: Sam's Club will make their limit of poultry and meat (beef, lamb and pork) purchases one per customer, according to a Des Moines Register story.]

If you're not fortunate to have farmer friends who can hook you up with everything you need for a long time on your meat supply, your luck is about to get even harder when it comes to finding what you're looking for.

Shutdowns, worker shortages, and other COVID-19 concerns surrounding meat plants have customers more on the hunt for what they need in copious amounts. For those reasons and perhaps to prevent "hoarding", Hy-Vee and Costco are about to start doing what we all might have seen coming: meat rationing.

Starting Wednesday, May 6, Hy-Vee customers will be limited to four total packages of any combination of fresh beef, ground beef, pork and chicken.

This limit will apply at all Hy-Vee locations and will be enforced at checkout counters. A  statement from Hy-Vee via press release noted "at Hy-Vee, we have product available at our stores but due to worker shortages at plants as well as an increase in meat sales, customers may not find the specific items they are looking for".

Costco is reportedly limiting its customers to three purchases of these items at a time, according to CNN. It's likely other stores will start doing the same and we'll keep you in the loop as this very serious food supply crisis continues.

 

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