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US may experience shortage of meats in groceries by end of week

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:


  • Shortage of meat products such as beef, chicken and pork could be experienced soon as many meat-processing plants have been temporarily closed due to COVID-19 pandemic, according to industry experts.
  • As of now, the Agriculture Department says there’s enough meat for Americans but experts claimed that the pandemic has paralyzed meat replenishment in groceries.
  • More than 5,000 cases and 13 deaths were recorded among meat and food processing workers due to COVID-19 according to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

Industry experts have warned that there could be shortage of beef, chicken and pork soon since many meat-processing plants have been temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Dennis Smith, a commodity broker/livestock analyst from Archer Financial Services in Chicago, said, “We’ve just completed our third week of reduced slaughter and production… My guess is that about one week out, perhaps around May 1, shortages will begin developing at retail meat counters.”

Smith said that the overall meat production, down at 25 percent, is on a huge decline.

“The cause of the shortage is reduced production due to labor issues at the packing plants,” he said. “Some plants have closed for deep cleaning and will remain closed until the employee base has recovered from the virus. Others are implementing safety procedures which in effect slows processing speed at the plants.”

Currently, the Agriculture Department says that there is enough meat for Americans. About 502 million pounds of beef was up two percent from last month while chicken dropped a little to about 921 million pounds. However, experts said that the pandemic has paralyzed sending of meats to groceries.

According to Terry Reilly, a senior commodity analyst at Futures International in Chicago, there are “likely to be [meat] shortages in select parts of the country.”

Reilly said that there’s no need to be concerned about a meat shortage for now. Although he mentioned that continuous shutdowns of the meat processing plants “will be a problem.”

On Sunday, Tyson Foods published a full-page ad in various newspapers, saying that “food supply is breaking.” Company board chairman John Tyson said that there would be limited supply of their products in trade channels given their plants’ shutdown.

Tyson Foods closed down their meat processing plant in Pasco, Washington last week. The plant produces enough beef in one day which can cater 4 million people.

Meanwhile, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said she’s looking forward that Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls could reopen “in a matter of days.” The plant was closed on April 14 after 783 workers were infected with COVID-19 and two passed away.

More than 5,000 cases and 13 fatalities were recorded among meat and food processing workers due to COVID-19 based on the report by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union last week.

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Source: AOL.com

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