The US needs a new strategy on food security
The Executive order issued by President Donald Trump to designate the meat processing plants as critical infrastructure and to order them to stay open is a major step in preventing the supply chain in the country from breaking but it will not quickly solve the bottlenecks for sectors such as beef and pork.
According to a statement from the United Food and Commercial Workers, 25% of the pork processing capacity in the US was already down by the time the executive order was issued and beef was impacted by 18%.
"There have been a range of responses to the order from different processors. Smithfield Foods has opted to reduce operations in its North Carolina plant, the largest pork-processing site in the world. Meanwhile, several plants, including Tyson Food sites in Waterloo and Iowa, have temporarily closed for cleaning and to implement new safety measures.
JBS announced the following day that it would be reopening its Minnesota site. However, due to a lack of available labour on processing lines, the site is operating to cull pigs only (around 13,000 head/day). Carcases are then responsibly disposed of without entering the food chain.
Worker availability and safety remain key challenges for processors. Even if more of the US pork processing capacity comes back online over the coming weeks, overall production capacity will likely be lower as companies implement worker safety precautions," said Felicity Rusk, AHDB analyst in a recent report.
Still, for a market threaten by food shortage due to disruptions appeared in logistics and processing, the order looks like a sign of relief. "The executive order will help ensure a steady, reliable supply of high-quality U.S. protein – not only for customers in the United States, but across the globe. The U.S. meat industry is already taking extraordinary steps to ensure worker safety, including COVID-19 testing, temperature checks, use of personal protective equipment and social distancing of employees. But further action is needed to stabilize our meat supply chain, and USMEF greatly appreciates the Trump administration’s prioritization of safe and consistent meat production and processing during this difficult time. The executive order comes as welcome news not only to consumers but also to U.S. livestock producers, who have endured severe economic hardship as a result of this pandemic," commented Dan Halstrom, President and CEO of the US Meat Export Federation.
Due to restrictions imposed on meat packing plants, with a six-feet distance between workers, the productivity in these units will be slow. From that point of view, getting back to 80% or 85% of the processing capacities looks like the best the industry may hope for in these conditions. In a letter delivered to the White House by R-CALF USA, the President and House and Senate leaders are asked to consider "whether a physical and geographical restructuring of the meatpacking industry is required to disaggregate and decentralize beef processing capacity."
Since the end of the '80s, the US meat processing industry has gone through different stages of consolidation reducing the number of small and medium processing units to just a few. In a statement quoted by Drovers magazine, R-CALF said the ongoing restricted market access and “seriously depressed prices for America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, lack of available beef in some or many of America’s grocery stores, and near record to record beef prices charged to America’s consumers, reveal that the United States must immediately begin the development of a strategic, national food production, processing and distribution policy that can meet America's food security interests.”
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