“Prices are surging. U.S. wholesale beef touched a record in the week ended April 24, and wholesale pork soared 29%, the biggest weekly gain since 2012” And it’s not just meats.
Today, Bloomberg reported “U.S. Could Be Weeks From Meat Shortages With Shutdowns Spreading” — “Plant shutdowns are leaving the U.S. dangerously close to meat shortages as coronavirus outbreaks spread to suppliers across the nation and the Americas.”
“Almost a third of U.S. pork capacity is down, the first big poultry plants closed on Friday and experts are warning that domestic shortages are just weeks away. Brazil, the world’s No. 1 shipper of chicken and beef, saw its first major closure … Key operations are also down in Canada … While hundreds of plants in the Americas are still running, the staggering acceleration of supply disruptions is now raising questions over global shortfalls. Taken together, the U.S., Brazil and Canada account for about 65% of world meat trade”. www.msn.com/…
And in a full-page advertisement in Sunday’s edition of the New York Times, the Chairman of the Board of Tyson Foods, John H. Tyson, wrote 'The food supply is breaking' www.msn.com/...
"There will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed," Tyson wrote in the ad. The ad followed Tyson’s April 22 temporary closure of its Waterloo, Iowa pork processing plant. “More than 180 coronavirus infections had been linked to the plant, and hundreds of employees weren't going to work out of fear of getting sick, NBC News reported. The plant accounted for almost 4% of U.S. pork processing capacity, according to the National Pork Board.
“Tyson said in a statement to NBC News that it has been "working diligently to protect our team members." … The company now requires all employees to wear masks …
“Tyson's Iowa plant closure comes as multiple beef, poultry and pork plants across the country are also being shut down due to coronavirus spreading among workers, many of whom work in tightly packed assembly lines. Smithfield Farms, one of the nation's largest pork producers, announced on April 12 that it was closing one of its meat processing plants in South Dakota for at least two weeks after at least 300 employees tested positive for the coronavirus … JBS USA and Cargill Inc. also closed plants after workers tested positive for the coronavirus.”
This is creating a critical bottleneck between the farms and consumers. While consumer prices and shortfalls are rising, farmers find the prices for their livestock, dairy, and produce are falling, because “the shortages customers may be seeing in grocery stores are not about decreased supply nationwide ... However, when large processing plants are forced to slow or halt production, farmers are unable to send animals to slaughter at these facilities … “
What about farm products other than meats? So far, Trump’s Department of Agriculture has done little or nothing to assist farmers in getting their surplus produce to food banks and the people who need it most. In addition to meat producers, the processing problem is also affecting dairy and vegetable farmers, leading to reduced farm prices (or even complete lack of any place to sell the food) so fresh food and even dairy are being thrown away. “Many farms, for example, have excess supply because their traditional customers, like restaurants and schools, have closed. As “Today” reported on April 13, “Farmers are throwing away fresh food and dairy. Food banks want to change that”. Follow the link to see crops of perfectly good food being plowed under. So very sad. And inexcusable.
www.today.com/...
Tuesday, Apr 28, 2020 · 1:31:16 AM +00:00 · hughwill
Update: NBC News just put out a story this evening, following up on Tyson’s NY Times ad yesterday, “Groceries could see meat shortages by end of week”. “[Fresh beef], chicken and pork could be as scarce as toilet paper soon”. According to the article, “Overall meat production is down 25 percent ...’which is a huge decline’ " There are substantial stocks of frozen meats and bacon, but the coronavirus impact on meat processors means fresh meat “is going to be a problem”.
Tuesday, Apr 28, 2020 · 9:20:57 PM +00:00 · hughwill
Update II: USA Today just reported “Trump plans to order meat processing plants to stay open during coronavirus”. What’s more, “Trump also said he would issue an executive order to shield meat plants from legal liability if they are sued by employees who contract coronavirus while on the job.”
He may have the authority under the Defense Production Act to order the plants to stay open. But does he have the authority to order workers into a potentially lethal work environment?
Or does he have some secret plan for how the workers will be given adequate safeguards for their very lives?
Donnie, are you sure you’ve thought this all the way through yet?
Maybe you’d like to get a staff review first?