Analysis: Tyson foods helped create the meat crisis it now warns against

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

John Tyson, the billionaire whose family business reigns as the largest meat processor in the U.S., took out ads in national newspapers to complain about a “breaking” food supply chain.

No one would argue that supplies aren’t an issue right now. Even Donald Trump is invoking the Defense Production Act to secure meat production. But the roots of this problem go back to decades of consolidation that Tyson’s own company helped lead. Tyson Foods Inc. and its top two rivals -- JBS SA and Cargill Inc. -- control today about two-thirds of America’s beef, and the large bulk of it gets processed in a few dozen giant plants. Pork and chicken are similarly dominated.

While Tyson pointed out that the pandemic has affected businesses of all sizes, the producers, which also include Smithfield Foods Inc., have such a stranglehold on output that it leaves the supply chain with few remedies when even just a handful plants are down. There have been about 12 closures at U.S. slaughter plants this month because of coronavirus outbreaks among employees who are jammed together on processing lines.

That’s wiped out roughly 25% of pork-processing capacity and 10% for beef -- enough for analysts to say that the country was weeks away from shortfalls. Meat prices are already surging.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/analysis-tyson-foods-helped-create-the-meat-crisis-it-now-warns-against/ar-BB13mdpL?li=BBnbfcN

[captain queeg]

1. This is probably true of many industries

It’s real obvious with meat. I worked in that industry for years when I first got out of high school. The face of America has changed dramatically since then. America was much more rural, lots of small farms. Every little town had a nearby slaughterhouse where the local farmers would take their animals. That’s all changed from the ground up. Mega farms took over and meat processing became more centralized and automated. It was all very obvious to me while it was happening. But I’ll bet people in many industries have observed the same kind of thing; centralization and automation. With food production I’ve seen an increase of small local businesses, usually along the lines of organic or humane. Those that support these businesses can afford to pay higher prices and/or support those business models. For people at the low end of the economic ladder they can’t afford to support the higher prices.