More meat-packing companies closing, what does this mean for consumers?

More meat-packing companies closing, what does this mean for consumers?

The coronavirus is responsible for closing some of the nation's largest pork- packing plants.

Indiana packers and tyson are two of the top 15 such plants in the nation, and three others on that list have also closed.

If others shut down too, news 18's micah upshaw learned how we could start seeing the impact at the grocery store.

M: food processing plants across the nation are battling covid-19 outbreaks right within their walls.

While these companies work directly with the food we consume, agricultural economist jayson lusk says food safety should not be a concern.

J: consumers should rest assured and feel confident that as far as we know, there is no mechanism by which we can become sick through the food we are eating.

M: lusk says consumers will more likely see the impact of these closures with meat pricing in the grocery stores.

J: on the pork side of things, even though prices are rising, we're still below prices that we saw last year.

Meat prices have grown quite significantly and that's likely to have an impact in our grocery stores in the near future.

M: lusk says factories are processing about 25- percent less beef and 15-percent less pork than this time last year.

However he's not worried about the nation running out anytime soon.

J: in terms of aggregate food supply, i think there's not a reason for panic yet.there may be some pain in the short term, you may not be able to buy the exact cut that you wanted, it may not be packaged in the way that you normally expect, you may have to pay a little more.

M: lusk says it's hard to predict what could happen if all plants were to close.

However, the ones still open are upping their sanitation and safety measures to avoid that ever happening.

J: many have been temperature testing workers to make sure nobody is entering in the planthat is already running a fever.

Some plants have gone so far to erect barriers, plexiglass or otherwise between workers.

M: in greater lafayette, micah upshaw.

News 18.

While consumers will feel the effects of the meat-packing plant closures in stores, farmers are also expected to see some changes.

You can read more about these closures and the impact on the food chain on our website wlfi.com.

The