U.S. Meat Supply Is 'Perilously Close' To A Shortage, CEO Warns

Apr 14, 2020

By Jim Zarroli

One of the country's largest pork-producing plants closed indefinitely after nearly 300 of its employees tested positive for COVID-19. And the company's CEO warned that the coronavirus pandemic is pushing the nation's meat supply "perilously close" to the edge.

"It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running," Smithfield Foods CEO Kenneth Sullivan said in a statement.

Smithfield decided to close its plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., which provides 4% to 5% of the pork produced in the United States. The move came after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem urged the company to "do more" to address the pandemic.

"The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply," Sullivan said.

Smithfield is one of several meat-producing companies that have suspended or cut back on production in recent weeks.

JBS USA has closed a Souderton, Pa., beef plant until at least Thursday and has reduced production at a second facility in Greeley, Colo., because of high absenteeism among employees.

Cargill and Tyson Foods have also closed plants in Pennsylvania and Iowa.

Sullivan warned that the growing shutdowns are hurting the nation's meat supply in a way that is reaching throughout the U.S. economy.

"These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain, first and foremost our nation's livestock farmers. These farmers have nowhere to send their animals," he wrote.

Because meat is perishable it must be kept in cold storage, making it difficult for stores to carry large amounts of inventory, says Krista Foster, who teaches supply chain management at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.

Click here to see more...

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.