COVID-19 and the U.S. meat and poultry supply chains

ABSTRACT

This paper uses data from a variety of sources to describe the changes to meat and poultry supply chains in 2020. At the beginning of 2020, cattle and hog slaughter rates were higher than in 2019, but they began to decline in April, reaching a low the week ending May 2, 2020, when slaughter for cattle and hogs was only 65 percent of that week's 2019 slaughter. Slaughter rates rebounded by June, although a backlog of animals still needed to be processed. From mid-April to mid-June 2020, the fall in slaughter rates combined with an increase in retail demand drove a large margin between wholesale meat and livestock prices. Retail purchases of meat at grocery stores surged the week ending March 15, 2020, to 75 percent above that week's 2019 meat sales. At the same time, food purchases at restaurants and other food-service establishments plummeted. High cold storage stocks of meat in early 2020 may have helped grocery retailers maintain high levels of sales during the supply disruptions in April and May 2020. Retail purchases remained higher for most remaining weeks of 2020 compared to 2019.