Tyson Foods is warning that the alarming number of meat processing plant closures related to the coronavirus pandemic could soon endanger the nation’s meat supply and put farmers in an even tougher position.
Company board chairman John Tyson warned in full-page ads taken out Sunday in The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that “The food supply chain is breaking.”
“Farmers across the nation simply will not have anywhere to sell their livestock to be processed, when they could have fed the nation,” he added.
Citing the closures of many of its meat processing facilities, Tyson wrote that farmers could soon have nowhere to sell livestock, and that “millions of animals — chickens, pigs and cattle — will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities.”
“There will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed,” he added.
“In addition to meat shortages, this is a serious food waste issue,” Tyson wrote.
CNN Business reported Tyson Foods closed pork plants in Waterloo, Iowa, and Logansport, Indiana, last week, so employees could be tested for COVID-19.
Tyson called for a coordinated effort from the private sector and government to avert a crisis, and said that the company’s supply of products is “vulnerable.”
“The government bodies at the national, state and county levels must unite in a comprehensive way to allow our team members to work in safety without fear, panic or worry,” he wrote.
“The private and public sectors must come together,” Tyson stated.
The warning from Tyson is the latest from the nation’s meat industry cautioning of forthcoming supply issues.
Dantheman