As Food Producers Idle, How Bad Will Meat Shortage Be?

Stores and livestock farmers are being hit hard as Smithfield Foods announces it is shutting down a US plant.

Will Meat Run Low?

Smithfield – the world’s biggest pork processor, will be shutting down its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant after initial temporary idling, as it was revealed Saturday that 238 employees were infected with the novel coronavirus, leaving the 3,700-man factory shuttered for at least two weeks.

The facility is one of the largest in the US, producing roughly around 4% to 5% of the pork in the nation, and with slaughterhouses also closing their doors down, the US food supply chain is finding itself in a tough spot.

With no outlets for their livestock, farmers will take a huge hit, which in turn will start showing its fangs on grocery store shelves – potentially leaving them with a much lower meat stock.

Although after further discussion with officials, Smithfield said that operations in the plant will eventually resume despite the threat of the virus, as the company had been producing frenetically to supply Americans with food during the pandemic.