Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue: Meat Packing Plants Back To 100% Capacity In 7-10 Days

Breitbart ^ | 5-7-2020 | Charlie Spiering

[blam]

United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Wednesday said at the White House that meatpacking plants would return to full capacity in a week to ten days.

“I’d say probably a week to 10 days where it’s fully back up,” Perdue said.

Reynolds and Perdue commented during a visit with President Donald Trump in the Oval office as fears of a meat shortage continue. Processing plants struggled to keep going amid coronavirus breakouts.

“I think we’ve turned the corner,” Perdue said. “We see these plants coming back online. Obviously, because of some infected employees, they won’t be full force for a while, but we think the stores will be — you’ll see more variety and more meat cases fully supplied.”

Reynolds thanked President Trump for acting quickly to use the Defense Production Act to declare the plants essential infrastructure. She said that Trump’s action prevented meat producers from euthanizing their stock that could not be sold.

“This is critical infrastructure. It’s an essential workforce,” she said. “And the team and the effort and the executive order, I think, has really maybe prevented what could have been a really serious situation.” The president said he would ask the Justice Department to look into whether meat providers were boosting prices to benefit financially from meat shortages while some meat producers could not even sell their animals.

“I’ll ask the Justice Department to look into it. Okay?” Trump said. “I will ask them to take a very serious look into it, because it shouldn’t be happening that way. And we want to protect our farmers.”

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence said that resources would be surged to the plants to help protect the workers and put critical infrastructure in place.

(snip)

[DoodleDawg]

“I think we’ve turned the corner,” Perdue said. “We see these plants coming back online. Obviously, because of some infected employees, they won’t be full force for a while, but we think the stores will be — you’ll see more variety and more meat cases fully supplied.”

LOL!

[Sacajaweau]

Experienced businessmen know how things work inside and out. Congrats to Sonny for taking the bull by the horns. And to the President for selecting Sonny.

[LukeL]

Why were meat plants affected and not produce facilities? Why not bakeries?

[Sacajaweau]

Hardly the same type of facilities.

[BBQToadRibs]

Crap. My bacon hoarding just backfired.

[DoodleDawg]

Why were meat plants affected and not produce facilities? Why not bakeries?

You don't have the same working conditions. Crowded production lines. Shoulder to shoulder work spaces. Most commercial bakeries are automated and small business bakeries have maybe one or two employees working in the kitchen at a time. At most a handful.

[cherry]

I really love me some ribeye....

[IYAS9YAS]

Crap. My bacon hoarding just backfired.

What you say makes no sense. Bacon and hoarding? Unpossible.

[cgbg]

The only “food” item I am concerned about is coffee. There is plenty available in stores right now.

That is a long supply chain from South America—so that is what I am stocking up on these days—fwiw.

[joe fonebone]

Just how many of these shuttered or work slow down plants are unionized?

[DoodleDawg]

Just how many of these shuttered or work slow down plants are unionized?

Some, but the union is pretty toothless. Most of these meat processing plants are in smaller cities and towns were alternatives for work aren't readily available. It's the meat processing plant or nothing.

What's causing the shutdown is the fact that Covid has been found among the workforce of 119 meat processing plants in 25 states. It's getting the workforce to return in the face of that. Since these plants are deemed necessary for the national defense then I'm assuming the employees either return to work or else they're deemed to have quit and are not eligible for unemployment. It's work or starve for the rank and file.

[Aaron0617]

Why were meat plants affected and not produce facilities? Why not bakeries?

OMG, are you saying there could be a shortage of donuts?

[jjotto]

It’s clear that he did not mean 100% capacity. He meant 100% of the plants opened, mostly with reduced capacity.

[blam]

McDonald's CEO says he is confident in the meat supply chain, as the fast-food giant changes how restaurants get beef, and Wendy's runs out of burgers

[minnesota_bound]

The cattle and hogs and chickens are happy.....

[real saxophonist]

That's interesting, because just this morning it was announced that the JBS plant in northern Colorado has surpassed the Sterling Correctional Facility, also in northern Colorado, as the biggest outbreak in the state.

287 cases, 7 fatal.

[GailA]

BS:

Shad Sullivan - We Are Being Forced To Dump Your Food Supply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2ortQpF-5I&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3Sg_57_neKqTLDsInOPLmJi4sUo_el75GykzVc7u-OQGTU4XbgoSDTtts

The cost of the pandemic for America’s farmers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8dDgeJLqOg

How the COVID-19 pandemic is sending American agriculture into chaos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlpx2UARByo

Costco to limit meat purchases
https://kfdm.com/news/nation-world/costco-to-limit-meat-purchases-05-04-2020

Oregon farmers dump produce as COVID-19 shuts down big customers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMxkb-YrqIY

Michigan beef farmers feel the effects of COVID-19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGHpOda9jFM

[GailA]

You can add Kroger’s to list 2 packs of meat, other items rationed, NO TP AT ALL. Frozen veggies, FF, and fruits limited supplies, even frozen dinners low.