A decline in U.S. meat production is expected to reduce grocery store supplies in May and June. According to a new CoBank report, meat supplies for retail grocery stores could decline 30 percent by Memorial Day, leading to pork and beef price increases as high as 20 percent compared to one year ago. Nearly two dozen U.S. plants that process beef and pork products closed in April due to the COVID-19 outbreak. President Trump’s executive order to reopen closed meat plants could help with the bottleneck, but in the short-term, getting workers to fill positions may be a challenge. There’s also a shrinking U.S. livestock herd. CoBank says beef and pork production are down 35 percent compared to one year ago. This could challenge supplies later this year. Read more about the supply chain bottleneck.
