Some massive meat processing plants have closed at least temporarily because their workers were sickened by the new coronavirus, raising concerns that there could soon be shortages of beef, pork and poultry in supermarkets.

The meat supply chain is especially vulnerable since processing is increasingly done at massive plants that butcher tens of thousands of animals daily, so the closure of even a few big ones can quickly be felt by customers. For instance, a Smithfield Foods plant that was forced to close in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after nearly 300 of the plant’s 3,700 workers tested positive, produces roughly 5% of the U.S. pork supply each day.

In addition, conditions at plants can be ripe for exploitation by the virus: Workers stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the line and crowd into locker rooms to change their clothes before and after shifts.

The virus has infected hundreds of workers at plants in Colorado, South Dakota, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and elsewhere. The capacity of plants that remain open has also been hurt by workers who are sick or staying home because of fears of illness, though it’s not clear by how much.

While company owners promise to deep clean their plants and resume operations as quickly as possible, it’s difficult to keep workers healthy given how closely they work together.

“There is no social distance that is possible when you are either working on the slaughter line or in a processing assignment,” said Paula Schelling, acting chairwoman for the food inspectors union in the American Federation of Government Employees.

The reduced production so far has been offset by the significant amount of meat that was in cold storage, said Glynn Tonsor, an agricultural economist at Kansas State University. Producers are also working to shift meat that would have gone to now-closed restaurants over to grocery stores.

Whether shoppers start to see more empty shelves or higher prices will depend on how many plants close and for how long.

At least half a dozen plants have closed temporarily, but that’s across the pork, chicken and beef sectors, and Tonsor said the industry can manage for now.

Tonsor said the industry has the “wiggle room” to shut multiple plants for a couple days, but taking down four or five big plants for a couple weeks would be a “game changer” for the industry.

The reduced meat processing capacity is driving down the prices farmers and ranchers receive for cattle, hogs and chickens.

“It’s like people on an escalator. Stopping the pork chain at the top of an escalator is just going to cause all sorts of tragedy and disaster all the way back up the system,” said Dermot Hayes, professor of economics and finance at Iowa State University.

Farmers are being forced to kill baby pigs because the space in the barns where they were supposed to go is still filled by the pigs that should have been slaughtered last week, Hayes said. The meat from those baby pigs cannot be sold.

That has driven prices for those feeder pigs – which generally are fattened over the course of six months – to zero, Hayes said. The value of those big enough for the market is down about 50% from a month ago. The value of the meat is down about 30%.

Lower prices for producers could mean higher prices for consumers eventually, if production falls off, according to Chad Hart, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University.

Tyson, Cargill and other major meat processors say they are adopting several measures: taking the temperature of everyone entering plants, adding clear plastic shields between work stations and erecting tents to allow workers to spread out more at lunch. But critics worry that workers too often work in close proximity and that measures are being adopted piecemeal.

The League of United Latin American Citizens recently asked federal regulators to establish uniform rules after a number of immigrant workers complained to the rights group about tight quarters. Federal health officials do not consider COVID-19 to be a food safety concern, but they recommend that workers maintain a safe distance from one another.

Lily Ordaz Prado, who recently quit her job at the Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, said she didn’t see those recommendations being put into practice, noting the crowded conditions on assembly lines. The 30-year-old called her decision to leave “the best decision that I have ever made.”

Smithfield officials have defended operations in Sioux Falls and said the company is taking “the utmost precautions and actions to ensure the health and wellbeing of our employees.”

Meanwhile, Hector Gonzalez, senior vice president of human resources at Tyson Foods, said the food giant is making important changes for its roughly 140,000 workers, such as slowing down production lines and adding plastic barriers between work stations.

Other meat companies say they have stepped up the cleaning of their plants and prohibited visitors. Several major meat companies are also paying workers more for continuing to work during the pandemic. For instance, JBS USA is paying workers a one-time $600 bonus. Cargill temporarily boosted pay by $2 an hour.

Most major meatpacking companies also have relaxed attendance and sick leave policies to ensure that workers can receive at least some pay if they have to stay at home after testing positive or coming in contact with someone who has COVID-19.

“Most of the employers that we deal with right now are really making a solid attempt to try and fix stuff,” said Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers. “We’re just working as hard as we can to protect as many people as possible right now and make sure that we keep the food supply open.”

Central Nebraska Beef Plant Reports COVID-19

Lincoln – Ten workers at a central Nebraska beef processing plant have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus, public health officials announced.

The South Heartland District Health Department reported last weekend that it had confirmed the cases at Western Reserve Beef in Hastings. The department “is working closely with Western Reserve management to complete the contact investigations, provide recommendations for employee safety, and to provide additional testing for their workforce.”

 Last Monday, Lincoln Premium Poultry announced its first COVID-19 case at its Fremont chicken plant that supplies Costco with millions of rotisserie chickens and employs 1,100 people.

Coronavirus has also impacted the JBS plant in Grand Island, and JBS has closed its plant in Greeley, Colorado, due to an outbreak.

– Associated Press

COVID-19 Cases Surge at Iowa Processing Plant

Iowa City, Iowa – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said last Tuesday that 86 new cases are linked to an outbreak at the Tyson Foods plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa, where workers have been prioritized for testing.

Tyson last week temporarily suspended production at the plant after acknowledging that more than two dozen of its 1,400 workers had the virus. The temporary closure continued this week.

Fueled by the Tyson outbreak, more than 1% of the 11,000 residents of rural Louisa County have tested positive for COVID-19, the highest percentage in Iowa.

“Things are fine here in Columbus Junction,” Mayor Mark Huston said. “It would be nice to get the economy going again because the streets are pretty quiet.”

Reynolds said other companies also have cases. The Iowa Premium beef plant in Tama closed this week after several of its 850 employees tested positive.

– Associated Press