Across the country, major meat processors are starting to shut down plants as employees are getting infected by coronavirus.
Tyson (TSN), one of the world's largest meat processors, suspended operations at its Columbus Junction, Iowa, pork plant this week after more than two dozen workers contracted Covid-19 there. Tyson said it would divert livestock that was headed to Columbus Junction to other pork plants in the region to minimize the impact on its production.
JBS USA, another major meat processor, has stopped operations at its beef plant in Souderton, Pennsylvania with plans to reopen April 16, after two weeks. The company decided to close the facility after several members of the plant's management team stopped going to work because they were experiencing flu-like symptoms, a company representative explained, adding that all other JBS USA's plants are still open. Cargill has also paused operations at its protein plant in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, where 900 people typically work.
...
"The smart money would say that it will be an issue at more plants, we just hope they don't all overlap at the same time," she said. "If it expands to more plants it becomes a serious issue."
Producers would "suddenly have nowhere to go," she said. If local outbreaks mean closures of a number of regional plants, producers used to selling their products locally could run out of options. For those producers, "it is a crisis."
...
More:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/08/business/meat-plant-closures-coronavirus/index.html