Impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on the meat industry in the United States

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Figure 7- Workers in an American hog slaughtering and processing plant Figure 7- Workers in a Hog Slaughter and Processing Plant Use Hooks and Other Tools (27007559560).jpg
Figure 7- Workers in an American hog slaughtering and processing plant

During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in the United States, outbreaks of the virus took place in factories operated by the meat packing industry and the poultry processing industry. These outbreaks affected dozens of plants, leading to closures of some factories and disruption of others, and posed a significant threat to the food supply in the United States. By April 27, there were at least 115 facilities with cases across 23 states, and at least 4,913 workers diagnosed positive with Covid-19, or approximately 3% of the workforce, with 20 deaths reported. [1]

Contents

Overall impact

An almost empty meat counter at a California supermarket during the pandemic Almost empty meat counter.jpg
An almost empty meat counter at a California supermarket during the pandemic

By April 23, there were more than 3,400 reported positive cases in meatpacking facilities in 62 plants in 23 states. [2] By May 1st, a tally of meatpacking and processed food plants (including bakeries and dairy plants) counted over 99 facilities with confirmed cases of Covid-19 and over 6,800 workers who had tested positive, with 25 deaths. [3] As April ended, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report stating that by April 27, at least 4,913 meat and poultry plant workers had Covid-19. Cases were reported in 115 plants located in 19 states, and at least 20 people had died. [4]

Impact on food supply

Christine McCracken, a meat analyst at worldwide agricultural financial institution Rabobank, said that U.S. meat production had declined 20% by late April, and predicted that wholesale meat prices would rise. She said that especially popular items like ground beef were likely to increase in price at the retail level. [5] An investigation by USA Today and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting concluded that by April 21, "coronavirus infections had spread in at least 48 U.S. meatpacking plants, sickening more than 2,200 people and killing 17," and that "The outbreaks also have prompted the closure of at least 17 facilities." [6] According to a report in the New York Times , the coronavirus pandemic "has revealed how these plants are becoming the weakest link in the nation’s food supply chain, posing a serious challenge to meat production." [7] Julie Niederhoff, an associate professor of supply chain management at Syracuse University, said that "Slaughterhouses are a critical bottleneck in the system". [7] Speaking for the meat industry, Smithfield CEO Sullivan said that "it is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running," adding that "These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain, first and foremost our nation’s livestock farmers." [8] According to the Daily Livestock Report published by Steiner Consulting, slaughter of cattle in the United States declined 19% in the second and third weeks of April, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. [9] According to a report by Bloomberg News on April 23, "Combined pork, beef and poultry supplies in cold-storage facilities now stand equal to roughly two weeks of total American meat production. With most plant shutdowns lasting about 14 days for safety reasons, that raises the potential for deficits." [10] In the same report, Dennis Smith of Archer Financial Services, a subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland, predicted that "Meat shortages will be occurring two weeks from now in the retail outlets," adding that "There is simply no spot pork available. The big box stores will get their needs met, many others will not." [10]

Enforcement

Two inspectors for the United States Department of Agriculture have died of Covid-19 as of April 23. One of those inspectors was based in the Chicago office of the Food Safety Inspection Service and was on a "patrol assignment" visiting various meat processing facilities each day to conduct inspections. [2] At least 137 USDA meat inspectors have tested positive for coronavirus, and 704 others have stopped working due to high risk health conditions. [11]

On April 26, the United States Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines for meat packing and meat processing plants, calling for six feet of separation between workers, temperature checks, health screenings and use of cloth facemasks by workers. [12]

On April 28, Donald Trump announced that he intends to issue an executive order under the Defense Production Act mandating that plants producing beef, pork, poultry and eggs stay open. White House General Counsel Pat Cipollone consulted with various companies "to design a federal mandate to keep the plants open and to provide them additional virus testing capacity as well as protective gear," according to Bloomberg News. [13] Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union commented, "We only wish that this administration cared as much about the lives of working people as it does about meat, pork and poultry products." [13] In response to Trump's announcement, Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers released a statement noting that "at least 20 meatpacking workers have tragically died from coronavirus while more than 5,000 workers have been hospitalized or are showing symptoms," going on to say, "We urge the Administration to immediately enact clear and enforceable safety standards that compel all meatpacking companies to provide the highest level of protective equipment through access to the federal stockpile of PPE, ensure daily testing is available for workers and their communities, enforce physical distancing at all plants, and provide full paid sick leave for any workers who are infected. Additionally, to protect the food supply and ensure these safety standards for workers are enforced, these plants must be constantly monitored by federal inspectors and workers must have access to representation to ensure their rights are not violated. [14]

Causes


Cases by processor

Allen Harim

Allen Harim is a regional chicken processor based in Delaware, owned by the Harim Group of South Korea. On April 8, the company announced that it would begin "depopulating flocks in the field" due to a labor shortage caused by the pandemic. The company is unable to process its normal volume because about 50% of its employees are not reporting to work. About two million chickens were to be killed and disposed of at local farms in Delaware and Maryland, and would not reach the market. [15]

American Foods Group

American Foods Group is the 5th largest beef processor in the United States. On April 21, health officials announced that 39 coronavirus cases were associated with an American Foods Group plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin. [16] By May 1, 203 workers had tested positive at the Green Bay plant. [17]

Bell & Evans

Bell & Evans, founded in 1894, is the oldest poultry brand in the United States. The company employs 1,700 workers at its modern chicken processing plant in Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania and is one of the biggest employers in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. The company processes organic, antibiotic-free chicken products which are sold through Whole Foods markets. [18]

One worker and the spouse of another worker employed at the plant have died of Covid-19. Indications are that there is an outbreak at the plant, but the company has not released any statistics. On May 1, 30 cars conducted a mock funeral procession outside the plant. Patty Torres, an activist with Make the Road Pennsylvania, said "We’re calling on Bell & Evans to shut down the plant immediately and clean their plant completely and pay their employees fully … before (COVID-19) claims more lives and devastates more families". [19] An investigation by the Philadelphia Inquirer concluded that eight workers who carpooled together all came down with Covid-19, including one who died. [18]

Cargill Meat Solutions

Cargill Meat Solutions is a division of Cargill, the largest privately owned company in the United States, and a major food producer. The meat division processes beef and turkey for the North American market. In April, 2020, 130 workers at a Cargill meatpacking plant in Hazleton, Pennsylvania were diagnosed with coronavirus, and the plant closed. [20] On April 16, Cargill announced that a plant in Fort Morgan, Colorado was reducing operations after 18 workers were confirmed positive and one worker died. [21]

Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands is an American company that manufactures packaged foods. On April 17, Conagra closed a plant in Marshall, Missouri after about 20 employees tested positive for coronavirus. The plant, which employed about 700 workers, manufactured frozen meals including chicken and turkey pot pies sold under the Banquet Foods brand name. [22]

Empire Kosher

Empire Kosher is the largest producer of kosher poultry and beef in the United States. On April 2, an Empire Kosher chicken processing plant in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania that employed 550 workers closed after two employees tested positive for the coronavirus. [23] This is the company's main facility. The plant was originally scheduled to reopen on April 13 [24] but that was delayed for at least a week. [25]

Foster Farms

Foster Farms is a California-based chicken and turkey processing company operating mainly on the west coast. By April 20, four workers were diagnosed with Covid-19 at a Foster Farms plant in Kelso, Washington. Health officials in Cowlitz County, Washington described the cases as a "cluster". [26] On April 22, Foster Farms reported that an employee at one of its two plants in Fresno, California had tested positive for coronavirus. Those two plants employ about 3,000 workers. [27]

Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods, well known for its canned pork SPAM product, also processes other pork products as well as beef, lamb and chicken. On April 18, local health officials shut down a Hormel Foods plant in Rochelle, Illinois that employed 800 people after at least 24 workers tested positive for coronavirus. [28] On April 21, Hormel announced the closure of three meat processing plants, including its Alma Foods plant in Alma, Kansas. That plant employs about 100 workers and at least one worker tested positive for the coronavirus. [29] Hormel also closed its Don Miguel Foods factory in Dallas, Texas, which is a joint venture with a Mexico City company, Herdez Del Fuerte. The plant made pork, beef and chicken burritos and tacos, and employed about 700 workers. [30] On April 24, Hormel announced the closure of two plants in Willmar, Minnesota after 14 workers tested positive for coronavirus. These Jennie-O turkey plants employed over 1,200 workers. [31]

JBS USA

JBS USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS S.A., a Brazilian company that is the world's largest processor of pork and beef. At least 277 JBS USA workers at a plant in Greeley, Colorado were infected with coronavirus in April, 2020, leading to the closure of this large meat processing operation with over 3,000 employees. [32] By April 15, four of the workers had died. [33] The Weld County, Colorado Department of Public Health, where Greeley is located, reported that the JBS plant had a "work while sick" culture. The company denied that. [34] On April 22, JBS announced that the Greeley plant would reopen on April 24, after a nine-day closure [35] . When local ABC News reporters approached the plant while investigating working conditions, security guards working for JBS responded aggressively, threatening to break their camera even though they were on public property. Local union president Kim Cordova of the United Food and Commercial Workers said "I think the workers are being sacrificed," adding, "I think that this could potentially be a death sentence." [36] The ABC News team confirmed that JBS had promised to test all of the plant's employees but did not keep their promise, after the first day of testing revealed that a significant percentage of plant managers and supervisors were positive for coronavirus. [37]

JBS closed its plant in Souderton, Pennsylvania on April 10 after a 70 year old union shop steward for the United Food and Commercial Workers died of Covid-19. [38] On April 20, JBS closed a pork processing plant employing over 2,000 people in Worthington, Minnesota after at least 20 workers tested positive. [39] [40] By April 20, 60 workers had tested positive at a JBS plant in Plainwell, Michigan, and one had died. The plant continued operating. [41] By April 21, 237 cases of coronavirus were associated with a JBS plant in Grand Island, Nebraska, according to local health officials. [42] On April 21, local health officials reported that they were investigating a coronavirus outbreak at a JBS plant in Cactus, Texas in rural Moore County, Texas. The factory is described as a "massive meatpacking plant, which processes a significant portion of the nation’s beef". Moore County has one of the highest rates of coronavirus cases in Texas. [43] Public health officials announced on April 22 that 147 cases of coronavirus were associated with a JBS meatpacking plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin. [16] On April 26, JBS announced that the Green Bay plant, which employed 1,200 workers, was being closed. [44]

National Beef

National Beef is a large beef packing company which is controlled by Marfrig, Brazil's second largest food processing company. A plant owned by National Beef in Tama, Iowa closed for a week after 177 workers were diagnosed with coronavirus at a facility that employed over 500 workers. The plant reopened on April 20. [45] Kansas Health Secretary Lee Norman reported on April 24 that 250 workers at the state's six meatpacking plants had Covid-19. Over an 11-day period in mid-April, Ford County, Kansas, where both National Beef and Cargill operate plants in Dodge City, went from 16 coronavirus cases to 288 diagnosed cases and Seward County, Kansas, which has a National Beef plant in Liberal, went from six cases to 125. [46]

OSI Group

OSI Group is an American multinational meat processing company that operates 65 plants in 17 countries. On April 20, OSI Group closed a plant in Chicago, Illinois. Thirty workers tested positive at the 500-employee plant, which makes beef, pork, chicken and turkey products. The company announced their intention to install body temperature monitoring systems for workers. [47]

Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods is a wholly owned subsidiary of WH Group of China, the world's largest pork processor.

In mid-April 2020 the Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota became a "hotspot" for the pandemic, with 300 of the plant's 3,700 employees testing positive for the disease. [48] On April 12 the company announced the indefinite closure of the plant, which processes 4 to 5 percent of the pork production in the United States. Kenneth Sullivan, president and CEO of Smithfield Foods, said the closure of this and other meat processing plants "is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply." [49] By April 14, 438 workers in Smithfield's Sioux Falls plant were confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus, [50] with Sullivan stating, "We have to operate these processing plants even when we have COVID." By April 17, the Sioux Falls outbreak had grown to 777 cases, of whom 634 were Smithfield employees and 143 were other people who got infected after contact with a Smithfield employee. [51] A Smithfield spokesperson blamed the "large immigrant population" at the Sioux Falls plant for the outbreak, commenting that "living circumstances in certain cultures are different than they are with your traditional American family", and rejecting charges that the company had failed to properly protect its workers against the pandemic. [8] On April 23, a 15-page report was issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that concluded that language barriers exacerbated the spread of the virus in the Sioux Falls plant where about 40 languages are spoken. In addition to English, the top ten languages spoken by workers include "Spanish, Kunama, Swahili, Nepali, Tigrinya, Amharic, French, Oromo and Vietnamese." [52] When workers showed symptoms of illness, they were sent home with information packets in English only. The CDC also reported that workers were offered a $500.00 "responsibility bonus" if they missed no work during the month of April. [52]

On April 15, the company announced the closure of a plant in Cudahy, Wisconsin that makes bacon and sausage, and a plant in Martin City, Missouri that makes hams. A small number of employees in both facilities had tested positive for coronavirus [53] Both plants were dependent on input from the Sioux Falls slaughterhouse. By April 15, 28 workers at the plant in Cudahy had tested positive. [54] On April 24, Smithfield announced the closure of its plant in Monmouth, Illinois after a coronavirus outbreak. The factory employed 1,700 workers and produced 3% of the fresh pork for the U. S. market. [55] The same day, April 24, Smithfield announced that their plant in St. Charles, Illinois was closing. [56] After Nebraska National Guard troops increased testing in Crete, Nebraska, local health officials and the mayor announced that the local Smithfield pork processing plant would close on April 29. There were at least 47 confirmed cases of Covid-19 among workers at the plant, which employed about 2,000 workers. [57]

Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods is the world's second largest processor of chicken, beef, and pork. In April, 2020, a Tyson pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa closed down after 148 workers tested positive for coronavirus, and two workers died. [58] Officials including the sheriff in Black Hawk County, Iowa were critical of Tyson Foods on April 17, after an outbreak began at a company plant in Waterloo, Iowa. [59] [60] Tyson finally closed the Waterloo plant on April 22. About 180 workers had tested positive for coronavirus out of a workforce of 2,800. According to an Associated Press report, the company said the shutdown "would deny a vital market to hog farmers and further disrupt the nation's meat supply". [61] On April 20, it was reported that 90 workers had tested positive at a Tyson beef and pork packing plant in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The plant employs 1,600 workers. [62] On April 17, Tyson announced that four poultry workers died who were associated with a Tyson chicken processing plant in Camilla, Georgia. Three worked inside the plant and another worked outside. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which represents 2,000 workers at the plant, said that the three plant workers who died were women who had worked for Tyson for 13 to 35 years, and that many plant workers are "sick or in quarantine." [63] Steve Stouffer, president of the fresh meats division at Tyson Foods, expressed some resistance to universal testing of their workers. "Everybody wants to test meatpacking employees, but nobody is testing the communities around them to show what’s the baseline," Stouffer said, adding "And until we know the baselines, my question has always been: Are we the cause or are we just the victim of our surroundings?" [7] At least eight workers at a Tyson plant in Madison, Nebraska had tested positive for coronavirus by April 20, according to local public health officials. [42] Workers have also tested positive at other Tyson plants in Lexington, Nebraska and Dakota City, Nebraska. [42] On April 21, Tyson announced the closure of a plant in Center, Texas, which is located in Shelby County, Texas, a rural county with a rate of coronavirus infections about four times higher than the state average. A local physician reported that over half of the county's cases were associated with the Tyson facility. [64] On April 22, Tyson announced the closure of a pork processing plant in Logansport, Indiana that employed more than 2,200 workers after 146 workers tested positive. The president of the Indiana Farm Bureau said that the organization is "extremely concerned about the closure of the Tyson pork processing facility. This is a devastating blow to the pork producers who sell hogs to Tyson." [65] On April 23, Tyson announced that a beef processing plant in Wallula, Washington was closing. The plant employed 1,400 workers. Local public health officials announced that over 90 workers had tested positive for coronavirus, and one had died. Tyson executive Steve Stouffer said, "Unfortunately, the closure will mean reduced food supplies and presents problems to farmers who have no place to take their livestock. It’s a complicated situation across the supply chain. [66] On April 27, public health officials in Dakota County, Nebraska, which has a population of about 20,000 people, announced that 608 residents had tested positive for coronavirus, a rate about 40 times higher than the Omaha area. The county's biggest employer by far is the Tyson beef packing plant in Dakota City, Nebraska, which employs about 4,300 people. One worker at that plant has died of Covid-19, and local officials believe that the outbreak is centered in the Tyson plant. [67] Eight workers at a Tyson chicken processing plant in Portland, Maine have tested positive for coronavirus, and on April 28, state health officials called for all 400 workers to be tested for the virus. Tyson agreed, and said that it is considering closing the plant. [68]

Wayne Farms

Wayne Farms is a chicken processing company and a subsidiary of ContiGroup Companies of Belgium. A Wayne Farms plant in Albertville, Alabama is continuing production at reduced rates after the company disclosed that 75 workers had tested positive and one worker had died. [6]

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References

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  38. ↑ Keeler, Bob (April 10, 2020). "JBS Souderton meat packing plant closed by coronavirus; union shop steward dies". Souderton Independent. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
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  41. ↑ Edwards, Lauren (April 20, 2020). "Allegan Co. Health Dept. says 60 workers at JBS in Plainwell tested positive for COVID-19: Dept. says 10 of the workers are from the county, officials ready to begin 'aggressive case-tracing' investigation". Fox 17 West Michigan . Grand Rapids, Michigan . Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  42. 1 2 3 Duffy, Erin (April 21, 2020). "Meatpacking plants are Nebraska's newest battleground in war against coronavirus". Omaha World-Herald . Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  43. ↑ Ura, Alexa (April 21, 2020). "Texas investigating meat processing plants over coronavirus outbreaks: The Department of State Health Services is looking into outbreaks at JBS Beef in Moore County and Tyson Foods in Shelby County". Texas Tribune . Retrieved April 22, 2020.
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  45. ↑ "Iowa packing plant reopens after 177 workers test positive for COVID-19". Des Moines Register . Associated Press. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
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  47. ↑ Graber, Roy (April 20, 2020). "30 workers at OSI's Rose Packing plant COVID-19-positive: Operations have been ceased until temperature monitoring can be put in place for all workers". WATT AgNet.com. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  48. ↑ "Smithfield Foods closes Sioux Falls plant amid COVID-19 outbreak". KSFY-TV. April 13, 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
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  50. ↑ Matzen, Morgan (April 14, 2020). "State sees 121 new COVID-19 cases; 88 more at Smithfield Foods". Rapid City Journal . Retrieved April 14, 2020.
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  52. 1 2 "Language barriers helped turn Smithfield Foods meat plant into COVID-19 hotspot: The CDC found 40 languages are spoken at the South Dakota plant where 783 workers tested positive and two died but workers were only given informational packets in English". NBC News . April 23, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
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  63. ↑ "4 Georgia poultry workers dead from coronavirus, company says: American workers who process the nation's meat have proven especially susceptible to the new virus, as they work shoulder-to-shoulder on production lines". NBC News . Associated Press. April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  64. ↑ Collins, Christopher; Novack, Sophie (April 22, 2020). "COVID-19 Cases Now Tied to Meat Plants in Rural Texas Counties Wracked with Coronavirus: The outbreaks, which are being investigated by the state health agency, represent the first reported cases of the virus inside Texas meatpacking plants, and are in rural areas where medical resources are already stretched thin". Texas Observer . Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  65. ↑ "Tyson closes Logansport pork processing plant in response to rising COVID-19 cases". WIXN-TV . April 22, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  66. ↑ Staff (April 23, 2020). "Tyson Foods' Wash. beef plant suspends operations after 90 workers infected with COVID-19". KOMO-TV . Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  67. ↑ Duffy, Erin; Gaarder, Nancy (April 27, 2020). "Dakota County, pop. 20,000, now has more coronavirus cases than Douglas County". Omaha World-Herald . Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  68. ↑ Overton, Penelope (April 30, 2020). "Eight workers at Tyson Foods plant in Portland test positive; state says all 400 should be tested: The outbreak at the poultry processing plant, believed to be Maine's first workplace outbreak outside a health care facility, prompts talk of idling production". Portland Press Herald . Retrieved May 2, 2020.
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