Tyson Foods to indefinitely stop production at largest pork plant

[turbinetree]

Source: Reuters

COMMODITIES APRIL 22, 2020 / 9:20 AM / UPDATED 33 MINUTES AGO

(Reuters) - Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) plans to indefinitely suspend operations at its largest pork plant in the United States to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus, the company said on Wednesday, in the latest disruption to the country’s food supply chain.

Earlier this month, Tyson shut a hog slaughterhouse along with two other major U.S. meat companies that closed their pork and beef facilities. Smithfield Foods, the world's biggest pork processor, also shut here a U.S. plant indefinitely following cases of COVID-19 among employees.

The closed Smithfield plant is one of the nation’s largest pork processing facilities, representing 4% to 5% of U.S. pork production, according to the company.

Reduced meat output from the shutdowns threatens to tighten supplies of certain products at a time when demand is rising at grocery stores as the United States battles COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-tyson-foods/tyson-foods-to-indefinitely-stop-production-at-largest-pork-plant-idUSKCN2241ZV

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And the stock market is up...................for how long...............

[Botany]

1. We might be looking at a breakdown in links of our food supply chains

Maybe if we open up the country and bring on another 1,000,000 cases of C-19 that will help.

For God's sake we need adults in charge now an not Trump and company.

[Neoma]

2. Time to note who you know that has a garden.

[Roy Rolling]

3. An unnatural food chain

Factory slaughterhouses are contrary to natural law. Like 100% reliance on fossil fuels, total reliance on factory slaughterhouses for food damages the ecosystem and returns minimal nutrition.

[katmondoo]

4. I never buy anything Tyson. Their chicken is terrible, their cornish hens are terrible. Why buy it?

[jalan48]

5. Looks like folks are going to be eating less pig.

[yaesu]

6. we may see TP prices for our food in the near future

It took walmart 3 weeks to fill my TP order that cost $12, that same brand order on feebay is flying off the shelves for $69.00 shipped.

[beachbumbob]

7. the ripple effect will be farmers NOT going forward with pork/beef and poultry production ending

the chain reaction from that will be in the end, the start of meat shortages as more packing plants will close for indefinite period and wont' able to ramp up until next year as it takes months or longer to rebuild the supply chain beginning with the farmers and ranches. which will be well into NEXT year at the soonest

America hasn't seen a food shortage like what is coming, even during the great depression.

[turbinetree]

8. I think you are right we are going into depression...........the indicators say it.....

and all of this happy talk about getting tattoos, beach fun and just outright criminal negligence from some of these governors......................... ...............amazing......

[IronLionZion]

9. America doesn't have shortages or rationing

that would be socialism.

[EarthFirst]

10. Have they not heard about the Grand Reopening?

[Steelrolled]

11. I have always avoided Tyson

There are plenty of smaller and more local producers. I'm not sure if this one plant closure will have a big effect on the supply, but we've had meat shortages before.

[Voltaire2]

12. Maybe the Idiots With Guns and Nazi Flags ought to head out to Waterloo, Iowa

to get them their freedums back.

[BlueIdaho]

13. An ounce of prevention...

Is worth a pound of cure...

[MissB]

14. Might be a good time to explore non meat options

Or you can raise backyard chickens- some are dual purpose meat/egg. Some mail order places have frypan chicks for about 50 cents each (probably mostly roosters). A bag of feed is pretty cheap. These are slaughtered rather young so depending on breed, 3-4 months, which may be before the rooster really start crowing. If I were in a town that allowed only 3 hens and absolutely no roosters, I’d point out that pullets aren’t hens and cockerels aren’t roosters.

Or you can raise rabbits for meat. They breed quickly.

If you’re inclined to do either of the two above items, you probably want to check out how to do it now not later, when more people start thinking about raising their own backyard meat.

If i felt the need to raise meat, I’d choose rabbits. However, I don’t think I could kill rabbits. I do raise chickens but only for eggs. Once they are done with laying eggs, I let them live out their best life.

[customerserviceguy]

19. Yeah, the HOA Nazis would love that! n/t

[Hekate]

16. There is an almighty backlog of pigs on feedlots, surrounded not by pretty farms but by sewage lakes

I asked this before, tho not so graphically: if processing plants are shut down, what is going to become of the living animals? Like I said, they aren't living well, and they just keep coming.

[customerserviceguy]

20. I wish I had a pig sanctuary in my garage

but there's no room for a chest freezer.

[Wellstone ruled]

18. Interesting but true.

Amazing how all this Pork Production operation came to a halt. Five years ago these same Midwest Producers were loosing their baby pigs because of a Virus. Believe the numbers were in the 3.5 million range. And that was because the breeders went cheap and did not vaccinate their Sows as a preventative measure. Watch first hand crews emptying three farrowing Barns on our Sister in Laws neighbors farm.

Greed once again shows it's true results both human and animal.

[Hekate]

21. Thanks. This isn't Disney's Fantasy Land where the Three Little Pigs have a happy ending...

Last edited Wed Apr 22, 2020, 04:07 PM - Edit history (1)

Interruptions in supply chains have enormous ripple effects.

Usually what has caught my attention heretofore has been the practice of "just in time" shipping and delivery with its virtual abolition of warehouses at the receiving end. This absolutely relies on there being no breaks at any point along the way between, say, the US and China or India. It also relies on there being no US president so moronic as to start an unprovoked trade war. Yet here we are.

[Wellstone ruled]

22. BTW,this same Virus

hit a few Broiler Chicken Barns a few miles away. And yes,it was tracked and traced to contaminated foot wear worn but either a worker or a feed supplier.

[Hekate]

24. Brilliant. Vets & farmers have known for generations that hoof & mouth disease can spread from...

...farm to farm on the boots of vets and farmers. In Ye Old Days veterinarians would stop at the gates to plunge their booted feet into buckets of disinfectant during outbreaks. Do we have a massive case of cultural scientific amnesia, or did the advent of "wonder drug" antibiotics lead everyone to believe they never had to wash their boots again?

I rather think so, because a number of years back as super-bugs spread in hospitals, one mind-blowing discovery was how amazingly few people were washing their freaking hands.

[Wellstone ruled]

25. Oh how I remember those days.

As a young kid,stood on the dirt bank of a huge hole dug for burying both Deer and Dairy Cows in our County in Northern Wisconsin. Cows were trucked in and unloaded into the pit,then shot and covered with Quick Lime then dirt as to kill the sent of death for the next load coming down the road. The Deer were driven out of the wood lots by people banging on cans and old pots and pans with the help of dogs into a Corral then into the pit. At the end of the day,and this went on for more than week,all our clothing and footwear was buried as well. And the Local Vet was the one who made sure everyone follow procedures. He made sure everyone showered in a old Army Surplus shower tent and he handled all the contaminated clothing personally,as well as he made sure all the Rifles used were cleaned and disinfected and put in foot lockers that he and only he had access.

[titaniumsalute]

23. I do wonder though

The amount of food that restaurants, banquet halls, wedding halls, businesses, etc. throw away per day in the US. Demand has to be overall lower for food. Obviously the same amount of mouths to feed but wouldn't waste be way down due to restaurants being closed? You wonder how much of these shutdowns might be due to lower demand anyway.

I also read that Tyson opened back up two plants they had previously shut down.