USDA: Meat, poultry plants processing at 95% of capacity

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue says the U.S. meat and poultry industry is getting closer to pre-COVID-19 production levels.

Roy Graber Headshot
(Tyson Foods)
(Tyson Foods)

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue says the U.S. meat and poultry industry is getting closer to pre-COVID-19 production levels.

In a press release issued on June 9, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) stated that as of that morning, poultry, beef and pork facilities were operating at more than 95% of their average capacity when compared to the processing levels at this time in 2019.

Specifically, the USDA stated that poultry and beef plants were both operating at 98% of their 2019 capacities, while pork plants were operating at 95%.

While numerous broiler, turkey, beef and pork plants had either suspended production or reduced production levels as the meat and poultry companies dealt with worker illnesses, USDA said meatpacking facilities in the United States are safely resuming operations following President Donald Trump’s April 28 executive order, directing the facilities – deemed essential businesses -- to implement the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines specifically created for the meat and poultry sector response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The order invoked the Defense of Production Act of 1950.

“President Trump took decisive action to ensure America’s meatpacking facilities reopen in a safe way to ensure America’s producers and ranchers will be able to bring their product to market,” Perdue said. “I want to thank the patriotic and heroic meatpacking facility workers, the companies, and the local authorities for quickly getting their operations back up and running, and for providing a great meat selection once again to the millions of Americans who depend on them for food.”

Plants that had been idled due to COVID-19 concerns were operated by many of the largest meat and poultry companies in the United States, including Tyson Foods, JBS, Hormel Foods and Smithfield Foods.

View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.

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