Livestock News

From pork to beef to poultry, producers are facing devastating backlogs as the new coronavirus disrupts the nation’s food supply chain.

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today applauded the safe reopening of critical infrastructure meatpacking facilities across the United States.

“USDA expects state and local officials to work with these critical meat processing facilities to maintain operational status while protecting the health of their employees.”

Current processing capacity reduction has longer term implications for producers, retailers, and shoppers, according to a new report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange division.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said that some plants shuttered by coronavirus outbreaks will reopen “maybe by the end of this week, over the weekend.”

“Everyone in the plant is anxious and nervous about going to work,” says Rhonda Trevino, a Cargill meatpacking employee in Fort Worth, Texas. “We worry about the virus every day.”