Agribusiness
Rantoul Foods issues statement in wake of Covid-19 outbreak
|
One of Central Illinois' largest hog processing plants, Rantoul Foods, has a confirmed 32 cases of Covid-19 since April 25, 2020. The company issued a statement today.
Coronavirus
As slaughter numbers decline, pork prices rise
|
Outbreaks of COVID-19 at meatpacking facilities across the United States have shaken the livestocks markets, harming both producers and consumers.
As of May 4, there have been at least 9,300 reported positive cases tied to meatpacking facilities at at least 164 plants in 27 states, and at least 40 reported worker deaths at 21 plants in 15 states, according to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting’s database. In response, facilities have closed or scaled down production, leaving farmers without a market to sell their livestock. Hog commodity prices have dropped, and at least 2 million animals have been euthanized. Lee Schulz, associate professor of agricultural economics at Iowa State University, shared his expertise on the pork industry with the FarmDoc Daily Webinar at the University of Illinois. Here are three takeaways from his presentation Friday morning:
Problems are happening because of set infrastructure
Fifteen meat processing plants slaughter 62 % of the hogs each year, and 27 plants slaughter 86.5 % of the hogs each year.
Coronavirus
Covid-19 outbreak hits Rantoul meat processing plant
|
Just days before President Trump ordered meat packing plants to remain open to mitigate food shortages, Rantoul Foods in Central Illinois saw its first case. There are now 32.
Agribusiness
EPA temporarily suspends monitoring of a pesticide in water over COVID-19 concerns
|
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has allowed Swiss agribusiness giant Syngenta to halt its water monitoring program of a pesticide linked to reproductive issues and cancer that is found in the drinking water of millions of Americans because of COVID-19 restrictions.
CDC
Lawsuit: Smithfield plant forced workers to crowd together as COVID-19 spread in its other plants
|
As more and more Smithfield workers in South Dakota fell ill with COVID-19, the company's workers at a Missouri plant contended with policies that made social distancing almost impossible, according to an affidavit from a plant worker filed in a lawsuit last week.
Coronavirus
Illinois nursing homes with ‘serious quality issues’ face coronavirus outbreaks
|
Four Illinois nursing homes already identified by federal medical authorities as having a history of serious quality issues have suffered outbreaks of the coronavirus in the past two months.
Coronavirus
Most Illinois county jail facilities lacked isolation cells for disease, documents show
|
As the coronavirus outbreak hit Illinois, many county jails lacked a standard cell needed to isolate infected inmates who had a respiratory illness, according to a review by CU-CitizenAccess and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting of annual jail inspections.
Agribusiness
USDA let poultry plants put workers close together even as they got sick from coronavirus.
|
As coronavirus cases mounted at meatpacking plants this month, the federal government granted 15 poultry processors waivers to cut chickens faster, usually by crowding more workers onto their production lines.
Agribusiness
USDA inspector dies as coronavirus spreads in meat packing plants.
|
A U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector tasked with ensuring safe food quality at meat processing plants died Thursday after testing positive for COVID-19, a source who was on a call in which the federal agency confirmed the death told USA TODAY.
Coronavirus
Amid pandemic uncertainty – meat shortages, livestock slaughter and a freezer full of food
|
Grocery stores may soon face meat shortages. Hogs and chickens are being euthanized. Cattle are being put out to pasture. And America’s storage freezers have more ground beef, chicken breasts and legs, french fries and onion rings than ever.
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a wrench into the United States’ supply chain, having wide-ranging results that will likely hurt both farmers and consumers, but could result in wider margins for America’s largest food companies.