meat processing

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service this week removed mandatory mask requirements at federally inspected meat processing facilities. As of March 1st, FSIS Notice 34-21 requiring masks was rescinded. FSIS-regulated establishments are no longer subject to suspension or withdrawal of inspection services for failure to require their employees to wear masks when FSIS inspection program personne

As Don Schiefelbein steps into his new role as National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president, he acknowledges there is no shortages of obstacles to navigate for the industry. Possibly the most talked-about topic from last year was the state of the cattle markets. Alt ...

The Washington State Department of Agriculture is now accepting grant applications to help small and medium-sized meat processors. The WSDA’s Hector Castro says Local Meat Processing Capacity Grants are designed to help operators across the state. ...

Processing capacity in meat production is indeed needed to meet current demand and alleviate supply chain issues. Recently, construction on processing plants were announced nation wide.   "The start, where we were already starting," said Lee Reichmuth board member at the U.S. Cattle ...

Meat companies and union officials tell Reuters that rising COVID-19 infections among workers are forcing meat plants to slow production and the government to replace slaughter inspectors. Meatpacking was an early epicenter of COVID in 2020 and is now the latest sector to be disrupted by the Omicron variant ...

What needs to happen to process more cattle, not only to remove the existing backlog, but also ensure growing demand is met domestically and internationally? Cameron Mulrony, Executive Vice President of the Idaho Cattle Association, said it’s not just about hook space, but also finding people to work in those processing plants. ...

The University of Missouri's College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources will provide mobile meat processing training next year. The university will send two mobile meat processing training centers throughout the state as part of a pilot program to address the labor shortages within the meat processing industry ...

Many agree that additional processing capacity within the livestock sector is needed to address current issues within the industry. But as Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently told the house Agriculture Committee, other forms of assistance are available from USDA, or are being developed ...

A study from USDA's Economic Research Service shows the role meatpacking plants played in the spread of COVID-19. In what ERS describes as a working paper, the study outlined 49 U.S. nonmetro counties in which 20% or more of employment is in meatpacking, defined as meatpacking-dependent counties ...

House and Senate Republicans recently introduced legislation that would create tax incentives supporting small and mid-sized meat processing plants. The Hagstrom Report says the goal of the bill is to help cattle producers compete for better prices ...