Meat processors and union officials are reporting rising COVID-19 infections among workers are forcing meat plants to slow production and the government to replace slaughter inspectors. Hog slaughter on Tuesday was 458,000 and Wednesday was only 433,000. National Pork Board CEO Bill Even says labor was short even before the latest COVID outbreak.
Meatpacking is now the latest sector to be disrupted by the Omicron variant. While Even says this is concerning he’s not anticipating a crisis or plant shutdowns like in 2020.
He says the other factor contributing to the lighter hog slaughter pace especially verses a year ago is just fewer pigs, in part due to disease.
The beef processing sector has also been hit and slaughter has slowed down to around to between 107,000 to 114,000 head per day.
Cargill, one of the country’s top beef producers, operated a few of its plants at a lower slaughter capacity last week. A Cargill plant in Dodge City, Kansas, was getting by with a skeleton crew at one point. This is backing up cattle and will likely starting increasing weights.
