Chad Hart, associate professor, was interviewed for a May 5 WHO Radio News story, "COVID restricts meat supply, even in pork-rich Iowa."
Iowa State University Agriculture Economist Chad Hart says grocery stores imposing restrictions on meat purchases are trying to be proactive, given the slow-downs at meat processing plants, caused by COVID-19 infections among workers. Hart says the stores recognize that supplies may be limited for key products, so restrictions will help spread out the remaining supply.
Hart says meat processing plant slow-downs are causing difficult decisions for hog producers who depend on the large facilities. He notes local lockers can process some animals, but not nearly as many as the larger plants, such as Tyson in Waterloo, which may process 20,000 hogs per day. He says it's likely there are some producers in Iowa who are having to reduce their herds because of the current hiccup in the system. Farmers need to move the hogs that are ready, to make way for the arrival of the next herd of animals. Hart says if something breaks down in the system it creates a bottleneck and difficult decisions.
And in a May 6 KCCI story, "Iowa experts weigh in on meat packing plants and meat shortage."
Chad Hart is an associate economics professor at Iowa State University. He says there are five large companies that dominate the meat industry in the United States: JBS, Smithfield, Cargill, Tyson and Hornell.
"They control about 80% of the production," Hart said.
He said the domination is about getting as many animals per day as possible processed through the packing plants.
"Economies of scale mean the bigger I get the lower the cost per unit, the more competitive I can be," Hart said. "That is the easiest way to bring cost down in terms of processing our animals into meat."