Reduced production, plant closures and livestock backlogs are testing the limits of farmers and the system. So far, it has held up.
In better times, Canadians didn’t have to give much thought to buying their favourite cuts of meat in the coolers of their local grocery store.
The ease of making such purchases belied the complex system behind it, from farms to feedlots to processing plants and retailers.
But the last several weeks have put this supply chain to the severest of tests. COVID-19 has afflicted workers and spurred processors to slow or temporarily halt production. The resultant backlog of animals has many farmers fearful for their livelihoods.
Yet experts say the system has managed so far.
“I would argue the meat supply chain — and, in fact, our food system generally — has been robust and resilient and bent, but didn’t break, in the face of an unprecedented shock based on demand,” said Mike von Massow, a food economist at the University of Guelph.
“We’ve continued to have meat available on grocery store shelves, and we have not seen yet significant price appreciation.”
There’s some optimism this will largely continue to be the case. Shortages are not expected. But the unpredictable nature of the pandemic has offered few guarantees.
Temporary plant closures are anticipated to be an ongoing challenge in North America. Operating costs are also expected to increase throughout the food system with added precautions for employees and production slowdowns.
Some say this could put upward pressure on prices for a number of goods at the grocery store, though how much appears to be an open question.
There are no reported cases of COVID-19 being spread through food consumption, but the impact on the agrifood industry has still been profound.
First, food supply chains were shaken as demand from the restaurant sector crumbled overnight amid pandemic restrictions. Then, the spread of the virus brought operational hurdles in trying to keep essential goods moving. Those challenges were underscored by the temporary shuttering of meat processing facilities in Canada and the United States.
In Canada, this includes the outbreak at the Cargill beef processing plant near High River, Alta., where more than 940 employees test