Highlighting the real problem in the agricultural industry, this repost from the Corona thread which was a response to Joan, is appropriate:
Signs of global crop failures or just normal fluctuations
- Thread starter Aeneas
- Start date
Here is another article:
www.rt.com
Exporters like Russia won as Covid-19 fears pushed grain market up, but now veggies may get sliced & diced
Coronavirus tanked global markets, but for grain producers like Russia, the pain was eased by a surge in prices. More bad news is on the horizon, however, as virus-induced labor shortages threaten the fruit and vegetable supply.
I do not know if this post about desert locust swarms hurting crops and threatening the food supply in Middle Eastern and East African countries belongs in this thread, so please feel free to move it elsewhere. A few days ago, i stumbled on a few articles about desert locust swarms across these areas, which threaten the food supply and livelihoods of at least 25 million people. Now the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that the countries facing these swarms may have their food security further threatened, as international shipments of pesticides have been delayed due to the COVID-19. The UN revealed last month that the desert locust, which can eat the equivalent of its body mass in fresh food daily, stands to endanger the food security of some 25 million people due to favorable breeding conditions.
"If we don't have pesticides, our planes cannot fly and people cannot spray, and if we are not able to control these swarms, we will have big damage to crops."
'However, stocks of the repellents - particularly in Kenya - are now running low, and both shipping and production have been disrupted due to COVID-19 restrictions.'
sputniknews.com
news.un.org
www.nature.com
So i was wondering what types of pesticides are they using and what new research may be out there.
It seems they foremost use the chemical Chlorpyrifos (CPS), an organophosphate pesticide used on crops, animals, and buildings, and in other settings, to kill a number of pests, including insects and worms. It acts on the nervous systems of insects by inhibiting the acetylcholinesterase enzyme. Chlorpyrifos was patented in 1966 by Dow Chemical Company.[6]
NB Just to compare, in the EU Chlorpyrifos was first licensed by EU states and the European Commission in 2005, despite health concerns having already arisen from animal tests at the time. What else is new, but then The European Commission in December 2019 said it would not renew a license for the insecticide chlorpyrifos after the European Union agency assessment.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said the risks of exposure to the chemical were of particular concern when it came to children's health. In August 2019, EFSA certified chlorpyrifos as being likely to cause mutations in genes and harm the nervous system.
The report cited "possible genotoxic effects as well as neurological effects during development."
"This means that no safe exposure level — or toxicological reference value — can be set for the substance."
Chlorpyrifos is already banned in Germany and six other EU countries, but it is still used on fruit plantations in much of southern Europe.
www.dw.com
They also use an insect fungus (Metarhizium sp.), a biopesticide. (Why gigantic locust swarms are challenging governments and researchers)
About these two methods in use to combat these swarms, Associate Professor Manfred Hartbauer of the University of Graz in Austria has some interesting things to say:
'As a biologist who has specialised in insect research for the past 20 years, I believe current pest management regulations need to be revised. Currently, outbreaks are managed using chemical pesticides or an insect fungus (Metarhizium sp.). Neither is a good option.
Chemical (synthetic) pesticides may be harmful to the environment and humans because of their neurotoxic effects.'
'Insecticide fungi are applied as spores to kill the locusts. This can take a long period of time and requires certain climate conditions, so it often won’t work as expected.'
'The agent of choice that’s being used in the current outbreak countries is an insecticide that relies on fungus spores to kill the locusts. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations ordered four tons, for US$76 million, to combat the current outbreak in East Africa.
The fungus is called Metarhizium sp. and it forms spores inside locusts, with fatal consequences. It was created and tested during a 13-year French research programme called LUBILOSA. It is found to infest locusts between about seven and 14 days after single treatment and it needs high humidity and moderate temperatures to work effectively. To my knowledge, few field studies are available that demonstrate the effect of this fungus on adult locusts. Only one was performed in Nigeria in the LUBILOSA field studies.'
'Three major problems are associated with this fungus-based pesticide:
First of all, the LUBILOSA user handbook from 1999 instructs users to dissolve the spores in diesel or kerosene – also called “mineral oils”. But spraying large areas of land with this would have serious environmental consequences. Mineral oils are known to contain toxins and carcinogens that can affect human health. Another problem is that they don’t degrade easily and stay in the environment for a long period of time.
The second problem is that infestation is not fast enough to control large swarms and it needs specific environmental conditions to work. The fungus-based insecticide takes about 14 days to affect adult locusts. To produce spores, it needs high humidity and moderate temperatures, more than 20°C at night and less than 38°C during the day. In areas where locusts cause massive problems, these climate conditions are rarely found.
The third problem is that current Food and Agriculture Organisation regulations favour a fungus over other pesticides. This regulation indirectly prevents the development and registration of novel, more effective botanical pesticides.'
Mr Hartbauer has developed a method of linseed oil, combined with some essential oils, that is highly effective in killing two of the most problematic locust species: Schistocerca gregaria and Locusta migratoria. Both species are very destructive and are responsible for most outbreaks in Africa. This botanical pesticide can be sprayed with conventional spraying devices and kills adult locusts within 24 hours.
Botanical pesticides have already proved successful against several insect pest species, but this is one of the first to target locust swarms effectively.
theconversation.com
By the way, a major player in producing biopesticides is BASF (which incorporated Monsanto) (Global biopesticides Market 2019: Key Players Bayer, Monsanto Bioag, BASF, Marrone Bio Innovations, Isagro, Valent Biosciences, Certis).
Apparently, no one or organization (are there not many NGOs located in these areas?) in charge of these locust swarm problems has heard about Hartbauer or his method and now the biopesticides (insect fungus) are not available in large quantities at short notice and the CPS supplies are running low and now Covid19 related flight and supply restrictions have entered the stage so we shall see how this will work out.... not good for the people in the lands i would think.
"If we don't have pesticides, our planes cannot fly and people cannot spray, and if we are not able to control these swarms, we will have big damage to crops."
'However, stocks of the repellents - particularly in Kenya - are now running low, and both shipping and production have been disrupted due to COVID-19 restrictions.'
East Africa Faces Rising Locust Swarms as COVID-19 Restrictions Delay Pesticide Shipments
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that east African countries facing desert locust swarms may have their food security further threatened, as international shipments of pesticides have been delayed due to the...
sputniknews.com
Fight against desert locust swarms goes on in East Africa despite coronavirus crisis measures
Sustained efforts to contain East Africa’s worst invasion of desert locusts in decades are forging ahead, despite limits on the flow of personnel and equipment stemming from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the UN food agency said Friday.
Why gigantic locust swarms are challenging governments and researchers
Scientists are championing biopesticides and better monitoring — but heavy rains, war and a lack of funding have been hampering efforts to control the biggest outbreak in more than a quarter of a century.
www.nature.com
So i was wondering what types of pesticides are they using and what new research may be out there.
It seems they foremost use the chemical Chlorpyrifos (CPS), an organophosphate pesticide used on crops, animals, and buildings, and in other settings, to kill a number of pests, including insects and worms. It acts on the nervous systems of insects by inhibiting the acetylcholinesterase enzyme. Chlorpyrifos was patented in 1966 by Dow Chemical Company.[6]
NB Just to compare, in the EU Chlorpyrifos was first licensed by EU states and the European Commission in 2005, despite health concerns having already arisen from animal tests at the time. What else is new, but then The European Commission in December 2019 said it would not renew a license for the insecticide chlorpyrifos after the European Union agency assessment.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said the risks of exposure to the chemical were of particular concern when it came to children's health. In August 2019, EFSA certified chlorpyrifos as being likely to cause mutations in genes and harm the nervous system.
The report cited "possible genotoxic effects as well as neurological effects during development."
"This means that no safe exposure level — or toxicological reference value — can be set for the substance."
Chlorpyrifos is already banned in Germany and six other EU countries, but it is still used on fruit plantations in much of southern Europe.
Brussels to outlaw use of insecticide chlorpyrifos – DW – 12/06/2019
The European Commission has said use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos will be banned in the near future. The chemical treatment, used mainly for citrus fruits, has been linked with neurological problems.
www.dw.com
They also use an insect fungus (Metarhizium sp.), a biopesticide. (Why gigantic locust swarms are challenging governments and researchers)
About these two methods in use to combat these swarms, Associate Professor Manfred Hartbauer of the University of Graz in Austria has some interesting things to say:
'As a biologist who has specialised in insect research for the past 20 years, I believe current pest management regulations need to be revised. Currently, outbreaks are managed using chemical pesticides or an insect fungus (Metarhizium sp.). Neither is a good option.
Chemical (synthetic) pesticides may be harmful to the environment and humans because of their neurotoxic effects.'
'Insecticide fungi are applied as spores to kill the locusts. This can take a long period of time and requires certain climate conditions, so it often won’t work as expected.'
'The agent of choice that’s being used in the current outbreak countries is an insecticide that relies on fungus spores to kill the locusts. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations ordered four tons, for US$76 million, to combat the current outbreak in East Africa.
The fungus is called Metarhizium sp. and it forms spores inside locusts, with fatal consequences. It was created and tested during a 13-year French research programme called LUBILOSA. It is found to infest locusts between about seven and 14 days after single treatment and it needs high humidity and moderate temperatures to work effectively. To my knowledge, few field studies are available that demonstrate the effect of this fungus on adult locusts. Only one was performed in Nigeria in the LUBILOSA field studies.'
'Three major problems are associated with this fungus-based pesticide:
First of all, the LUBILOSA user handbook from 1999 instructs users to dissolve the spores in diesel or kerosene – also called “mineral oils”. But spraying large areas of land with this would have serious environmental consequences. Mineral oils are known to contain toxins and carcinogens that can affect human health. Another problem is that they don’t degrade easily and stay in the environment for a long period of time.
The second problem is that infestation is not fast enough to control large swarms and it needs specific environmental conditions to work. The fungus-based insecticide takes about 14 days to affect adult locusts. To produce spores, it needs high humidity and moderate temperatures, more than 20°C at night and less than 38°C during the day. In areas where locusts cause massive problems, these climate conditions are rarely found.
The third problem is that current Food and Agriculture Organisation regulations favour a fungus over other pesticides. This regulation indirectly prevents the development and registration of novel, more effective botanical pesticides.'
Mr Hartbauer has developed a method of linseed oil, combined with some essential oils, that is highly effective in killing two of the most problematic locust species: Schistocerca gregaria and Locusta migratoria. Both species are very destructive and are responsible for most outbreaks in Africa. This botanical pesticide can be sprayed with conventional spraying devices and kills adult locusts within 24 hours.
Botanical pesticides have already proved successful against several insect pest species, but this is one of the first to target locust swarms effectively.
What we found when we tested a botanical pesticide to combat locust invasions
Currently, outbreaks are managed using chemical pesticides or an insect fungus. Neither is a good option.
theconversation.com
By the way, a major player in producing biopesticides is BASF (which incorporated Monsanto) (Global biopesticides Market 2019: Key Players Bayer, Monsanto Bioag, BASF, Marrone Bio Innovations, Isagro, Valent Biosciences, Certis).
Apparently, no one or organization (are there not many NGOs located in these areas?) in charge of these locust swarm problems has heard about Hartbauer or his method and now the biopesticides (insect fungus) are not available in large quantities at short notice and the CPS supplies are running low and now Covid19 related flight and supply restrictions have entered the stage so we shall see how this will work out.... not good for the people in the lands i would think.
This story could go in a number of threads but i figured here was probably a good place to track food shortage issues of all kinds.
Reuters just reported that the world's biggest pork processor has warned of meat shortages in the US, and they're shutting one of their biggest plants down indefinitely.
They claim it's because coronavirus has infected a number of employees at the plant. But, if that was the sole reason could they not just hire more? Even if only later on? Is it because they're thinking that they won't need so many plants - perhaps because of people's financial situation - that it's better to close it down now under the cover of corona?
They describe the impact this will have immediately on farmers, and then the consumer. They're also not the only food processors to put some plants on 'idle'...
Reuters just reported that the world's biggest pork processor has warned of meat shortages in the US, and they're shutting one of their biggest plants down indefinitely.
They claim it's because coronavirus has infected a number of employees at the plant. But, if that was the sole reason could they not just hire more? Even if only later on? Is it because they're thinking that they won't need so many plants - perhaps because of people's financial situation - that it's better to close it down now under the cover of corona?
They describe the impact this will have immediately on farmers, and then the consumer. They're also not the only food processors to put some plants on 'idle'...
US meat shortage warning from world's biggest pork processor, shuts down 1 plant indefinitely
Tom Polansek
Reuters
Sun, 12 Apr 2020 18:20 UTC
© REUTERS/Tom Polansek/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A truck arrives at Smithfield Foods' pork plant in Smithfield, Virginia, U.S. October 17, 2019. Picture taken October 17, 2019.
Smithfield Foods, the world's biggest pork processor, said on Sunday it will shut a U.S. plant indefinitely due to a rash of coronavirus cases among employees and warned the country was moving "perilously close to the edge" in supplies for grocers.
Slaughterhouse shutdowns are disrupting the U.S. food supply chain, crimping availability of meat at retail stores and leaving farmers without outlets for their livestock.
Smithfield extended the closure of its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant after initially saying it would idle temporarily for cleaning. The facility is one of the nation's largest pork processing facilities, representing 4% to 5% of U.S. pork production, according to the company.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said on Saturday that 238 Smithfield employees had active cases of the new coronavirus, accounting for 55% of the state's total. Noem and the mayor of Sioux Falls had recommended the company shut the plant, which has about 3,700 workers, for at least two weeks.
"It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running," Smithfield Chief Executive Ken Sullivan said in a statement on Sunday. "These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain, first and foremost our nation's livestock farmers."
Smithfield said it will resume operations in Sioux Falls after further direction from local, state and federal officials. The company will pay employees for the next two weeks, according to the statement.
The company has been running its plants to supply U.S. consumers during the outbreak, Sullivan said.
"We have a stark choice as a nation: we are either going to produce food or not, even in the face of COVID-19," he said.
Other major U.S. meat and poultry processors, including Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N), Cargill Inc [CARG.UL] and JBS USA [JBS.UL] have already idled plants in other states.
I agree itellsya, that it sounds strange. Why close down the plants when hiring more staff would be the simple solution? I could be wrong, but I can't see that it would be because of people's financial situation as pork is a cheap meat.
I remember earlier in the threat from November 2019, that:
Could the problem be that the US due to the trade deal problems and then the coupled with the Covid19 has a massive storage of pork? Some trade deal did happen but perhaps China did not take as much pork as the US had wanted or the 'pandemic' blocked the actual transport of the pork to China, thus leaving the US with massive amount of pork bellies. In such a climate prices drop, and farmers reduce the production.Pork Pile-Up Continues: Bacon Levels In US Cold Storage Surge To 48-Year High
by Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/04/2019 - 23:10
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Cold storage facilities across the U.S. have just hit record-high levels of pork bellies, the cut of the pig used to make bacon, reported Bloomberg. Much of the oversupply problem stems from farmers' increasing herd sizes ahead of a possible trade deal that was expected to occur earlier this year.
Or has the swine fever hit the US, but it is being kept quiet? When we think about how long the Covid19 virus was around before we heard about it, then that could be a possibility.
Just speculation, but something does not seem to add up.
I am re-posting this from the Corona thread as it deals with the shutdown of pork processing in Iowa.
I live in Iowa, in the US. We’ve had at least 3 big meat processing plants shut down due to the Coronavirus in recent days. Iowa is the leading producer of pork in the United States.
Farmers are putting ads on Craigslist and other sites trying to sell their pigs, going as low as 50$ for a 300 pound hog. They have no where to take the pigs to have them processed, so they’re trying to sell them as cheap as they can. Otherwise many farmers said they’d have to just kill the pigs and bury them because it’s not viable to try to keep feeding pigs growing past market weight.
In Wisconsin, one state over, Dairy farmers are dumping milk out because of the decreased demand in milk.
Dairy farmers forced to dump milk as demand drops amid coronavirus closures
“You can't shut down cows. You can't turn them off like a faucet,” one farmer tells NBC News about the sudden drop in demand for dairy products.www.google.com
Iowa is also a very big producer of corn and soybeans. As of right now it’s unclear how much of an impact the Coronavirus will have on the planting and harvesting season.
Global food supply chains beginning to erode, crisis looms?
As the coronavirus continues to infect more and more people, food supply chains have started to become more strained in recent days. It was announced yesterday; the world's biggest pork producer is closing a primary U.S plant indefinitely after a...
www.sott.net
As the coronavirus continues to infect more and more people, food supply chains have started to become more strained in recent days. It was announced yesterday; the world's biggest pork producer is closing a primary U.S plant indefinitely after a coronavirus outbreak amongst employees.
Smithfield Foods Inc. will halt its pork-processing facility in South Dakota, which accounts for 4% to 5% of U.S pork production. The company also warned that closures across the country are taking American meat supplies "perilously close to the edge" of shortfalls. This is just one of the latest examples of the coronavirus beginning to disrupt food chains at a more significant scale rapidly.
We anticipated this, as we reported on April 1 that food supply chains were in the early stages of being strained. Many countries were preparing many weeks ago by cutting back on exports to begin stockpiling. Surprisingly, dairy farmers in the United States are starting to dump milk because there was no place for them to go as the marketplace for dairy products has been affected by the closures of restaurants, schools, hotels, and food service businesses.
One would begin to believe history might not be repeating itself, but it is undoubtedly starting to rhyme. During the great depression of the 1930s, the hardest-hit industry was farming. Farm incomes dropped by nearly two-thirds at the beginning of the 1930s. Dairy farmers dumped countless gallons of milk into the street instead of accepting a penny a quart.
During World War 1, farmers had produced record crops and livestock to keep everyone fed. However, when prices started to fell, they tried to harvest even more to pay their debts and living expenses. In the early 30s, prices dropped so low that many farmers went bankrupt and lost their farms. In some cases, the price of a bushel of corn fell to just eight to ten cents. Some farmers even began burning corn rather than coal in their stoves because corn was cheaper.
However, there is a dramatic difference today. Prices are not dropping; in fact, grocery bills are getting more expensive by the day. Supply chains are being disrupted due to the transportation and of course processing of a vast selection of foods.
[...]
Another alarming headline that came late last month was the warning from the United Nations Food and Agriculture organization who has now warned of global food shortages in the coming months.
"The worst that can happen is that governments restrict the flow of food," Maximo Torero, chief economist of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, said.
Harvests have been good and staple crops remain in demand, but a shortage of field workers brought on by the pandemic and a move towards protectionism — tariffs and export bans — could lead to problems in the coming weeks, Torero said, according to the report.
"All measures against free trade will be counterproductive. Now is not the time for restrictions or putting in place trade barriers. Now is the time to protect the flow of food around the world," Torero added, the news course reported.
Some countries have begun to protect their food supplies by restricting exports, which Torero reportedly said could lead to an overall decrease in trade and a subsequent decline in food production.
"Trade barriers will create extreme volatility," warned Torero. "[They] will make the situation worse. That's what we observe in food crises."
Another measure that could threaten the world's food supply is that nations have issued stay-at-home orders at varying levels of enforcement. If agriculture workers are legally unable to harvest crops, it could cause a lapse in food flow.
"Coronavirus is affecting the labour force and the logistical problems are becoming very important," said Torero. "We need to have policies in place so the labour force can keep doing their job. Protect people too, but we need the labour force. Major countries have yet to implement these sorts of policies to ensure that food can keep moving."
One thing is clear, there certainly are supply chain disruptions going on within the food industry globally, the question is, how bad will it get?
In modern industrial farming, it is about real-estate but on a farm scale. This means that for these farms, the animals when reaching maturity for slaughter has to be sold as the space they are occupying is already under demand from the next generation below. It is a production machine. This is illustrated in the problems with the pigs not being slaughtered and the following article gives another example, which is chickens.
www.zerohedge.com
American Farms Cull Millions Of Chickens Amid Virus-Related Staff Shortages At Processing Plants
A significant concern that readers should have during an economic collapse and pandemic is food security. We've noted over April that troubling news is developing deep inside America's food supply chain network, suggesting shortages and rapid food inflation could be ahead.
The reason behind the disruptions begins with meatpacking plants across the country are shuttering operations because of virus-related issues. At the moment, we've reported at least 10-12 large operations have gone offline in the last several weeks, which could result in pork shortages in the first or second week in May.
We also highlighted additional risks to beef and poultry capacity at processing plants that were starting to develop.
Now, more specifically, diving into the world of poultry, new developments from Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia, a region known to be a top producer of chickens not just in the country but the world, is experiencing logistical issues due to coronavirus.
The Baltimore Sun is reporting that 2 million chickens are set to be culled across farms in Maryland and Delaware amid coronavirus-related staffing shortages at meatpacking plants.
We've heard the same story with pork, turkey, and beef processing plants across the country. Reducing operations or shutting down due to virus-related illnesses among staff.
"With reduced staffing, many plants are not able to harvest chickens at the pace they planned for when placing those chicks in chicken houses several weeks ago," before strict social distancing rules went into effect, trade group for the Delmarva poultry industry said in a statement.
The trade group said poultry plants across the Delmarva Peninsula, which includes parts of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, are struggling to keep plants operating as worker attendance plunges because of virus-related illnesses.
The group said a large farm on the peninsula has turned to "depopulation" this month after processing plants were unable to accept chickens because of reduced capacity. It said culling chickens are last-resort options.
"Depopulation has been done in the past on Delmarva and in the U.S. in response to cases of the infectious avian disease," said James Fisher, a spokesman for Delmarva Poultry.
The American Veterinary Medical Association approved the extermination methods to cull the chickens on the peninsula.
The Sun notes farms on the peninsula are a major producer of poultry. The region grew 608 million birds last year, producing upwards of 4.3 billion pounds of processing meat.
The problem developing, is that reduced output at poultry processing plants and farmers culling flocks could trigger shortages of the meat.
ZeroHedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
A significant concern that readers should have during an economic collapse and pandemic is food security. We've noted over April that troubling news is developing deep inside America's food supply chain network, suggesting shortages and rapid food inflation could be ahead.
The reason behind the disruptions begins with meatpacking plants across the country are shuttering operations because of virus-related issues. At the moment, we've reported at least 10-12 large operations have gone offline in the last several weeks, which could result in pork shortages in the first or second week in May.
We also highlighted additional risks to beef and poultry capacity at processing plants that were starting to develop.
Now, more specifically, diving into the world of poultry, new developments from Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia, a region known to be a top producer of chickens not just in the country but the world, is experiencing logistical issues due to coronavirus.
The Baltimore Sun is reporting that 2 million chickens are set to be culled across farms in Maryland and Delaware amid coronavirus-related staffing shortages at meatpacking plants.
We've heard the same story with pork, turkey, and beef processing plants across the country. Reducing operations or shutting down due to virus-related illnesses among staff.
"With reduced staffing, many plants are not able to harvest chickens at the pace they planned for when placing those chicks in chicken houses several weeks ago," before strict social distancing rules went into effect, trade group for the Delmarva poultry industry said in a statement.
The trade group said poultry plants across the Delmarva Peninsula, which includes parts of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, are struggling to keep plants operating as worker attendance plunges because of virus-related illnesses.
The group said a large farm on the peninsula has turned to "depopulation" this month after processing plants were unable to accept chickens because of reduced capacity. It said culling chickens are last-resort options.
"Depopulation has been done in the past on Delmarva and in the U.S. in response to cases of the infectious avian disease," said James Fisher, a spokesman for Delmarva Poultry.
The American Veterinary Medical Association approved the extermination methods to cull the chickens on the peninsula.
The Sun notes farms on the peninsula are a major producer of poultry. The region grew 608 million birds last year, producing upwards of 4.3 billion pounds of processing meat.
The problem developing, is that reduced output at poultry processing plants and farmers culling flocks could trigger shortages of the meat.
Food shortages are possible if the trend shown in this article continues. One highlight from the article is:
The article: Beef Prices Soar To Record High As Meatpacking Plants Shutter
by Tyler Durden
Thu, 04/30/2020 - 06:05
Wholesale American beef prices jumped 6% to a record high of $330.82 per 100 pounds, a 62% increase from the lows in February, according to Bloomberg, citing new USDA data.
The surge in beef prices comes at a time when the nation's food supply chain network has been severely damaged by meatpacking plants going offline due to virus-related shutdowns and worker shortage. Bloomberg highlights the latest plant closures in the map below:
Soaring food inflation came one day after President Trump said he would be issuing an executive order to address meat shortages.
"Because of the virus, meat slaughtering is 40% below where it needs to be to handle all of the animals coming to market, said Arlan Suderman," chief commodities economist at INTL FCStone.
Just days ago, Tyson Foods warned in a full-page ad in the New York Times on Sunday that the "food supply chain is breaking."
And with tens of millions of Americans out of work, a crashed economy that is plunging into depression, and rapid food inflation -- this could all suggest that the evolution of the virus crisis is not just an economic crisis but also social instabilities are ahead.
It seems that some shuttered meat processing plants are slowly coming back online. Tyson Foods spokesman Gary Mickelson confirmed to the DCNF that the Iowa plant was back online as of Thursday.
Even so, the country still has hemorrhaged about 38% of its total pork processing capacity, according to Steve Meyer, an economist at Kerns and Associates in Ames, Iowa. The lack of production prompted Costco, Hy-Vee and Walmart's Sam's Clubs to limit how much meat customers can purchase.
www.sott.net
Even so, the country still has hemorrhaged about 38% of its total pork processing capacity, according to Steve Meyer, an economist at Kerns and Associates in Ames, Iowa. The lack of production prompted Costco, Hy-Vee and Walmart's Sam's Clubs to limit how much meat customers can purchase.
Shuttered meat-processing plants coming back; new protections for workers
Meat-processing plants are slowly coming back online after health officials shut them down, yet there is still disagreement over whether these safety precautions are different than those the plants employed before the closures. Processing...
www.sott.net
It seems the desert locust swarms follow the winds and are arriving from East Africa via Pakistan in India, threatening food supplies there. New technology is used to track and forecast wind patterns and so predict where the swarms are going. The desert locust is a passive flying species that typically follows the wind. Knowing wind patterns can help U.N. authorities pre-position material and personnel in an effort to prevent croplands from being destroyed. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme warn that the risk of famine in the region is rising quickly. The locust infestation, combined with the coronavirus pandemic, is threatening food security for hundreds of millions of people. FAO says the desert locust is “the most destructive migratory pest in the world,” capable of wiping out crops and pasturelands.
www.scientificamerican.com
Farmers in India's state of Utter Pradesh are urged to beat drums and spray pesticides to battle the swarms, yeah, to further make sure that the lands become completely barren.
Beating Drums, Spraying Pesticides: India's Uttar Pradesh Gears Up For Devastating Locust Attack
'New Delhi (Sputnik): Agricultural land has already been inundated in Indian states which share a border with Pakistan, which has also found itself grappling with an infestation. Swarms of locusts commonly number 40 million; the insect is known to cause major damage by attacking crops.'
sputniknews.com
To Track Massive Locust Swarms, Officials Use Tool that Forecasts Smoke Plumes
The pests that have been laying waste to crops across Africa follow the winds, just like smoke
Farmers in India's state of Utter Pradesh are urged to beat drums and spray pesticides to battle the swarms, yeah, to further make sure that the lands become completely barren.
Beating Drums, Spraying Pesticides: India's Uttar Pradesh Gears Up For Devastating Locust Attack
'New Delhi (Sputnik): Agricultural land has already been inundated in Indian states which share a border with Pakistan, which has also found itself grappling with an infestation. Swarms of locusts commonly number 40 million; the insect is known to cause major damage by attacking crops.'
Beating Drums, Spraying Pesticides: India's Uttar Pradesh Gears Up For Devastating Locust Attack
New Delhi (Sputnik): Agricultural land has already been inundated in Indian states which share a border with Pakistan, which has also found itself grappling with an infestation. Swarms of locusts commonly number 40 million; the insect is...
sputniknews.com
Germany just shutdown Europe's largest meat processing plant following testing for the coronavirus, and then claims of an 'outbreak'.
As has been discussed on this thread, when the US shutdown its meat packing plants it led to food shortages and farmers being thrown out of business thus endangering the food supply for years to come, and one would suspect the same fate could await Germany and parts of Europe...
As has been discussed on this thread, when the US shutdown its meat packing plants it led to food shortages and farmers being thrown out of business thus endangering the food supply for years to come, and one would suspect the same fate could await Germany and parts of Europe...
Lockdown returns to German district with Europe's largest meat processing plant closed following coronavirus testing
A district in Germany where there has been an acute outbreak of coronavirus cases at a meat-processing plant is being put back into lockdown, the premier of North Rhine-Westfalia said Tuesday. State premier Armin Laschet said he was putting the...
Lockdown returns to German district with Europe's largest meat processing plant closed following coronavirus testing
Holly Ellyatt
CNBC
Tue, 23 Jun 2020 06:59 UTC
© Alexander Koerner
Members of the technical emergency service secure an area within an apartment complex used by the Toennies meat company to house labourers from eastern Europe during the coronavirus pandemic on June 20, 2020 in Verl near Guetersloh, Germany.
A district in Germany where there has been an acute outbreak of coronavirus cases at a meat-processing plant is being put back into lockdown, the premier of North Rhine-Westfalia said Tuesday.
State premier Armin Laschet said he was putting the district of Guetersloh, home to around 360,000 people, back under lockdown until June 30. The move comes after at least 1,000 workers at a meat processing plant in the area contracted Covid-19.
Bars, museums, galleries, cinemas, sports halls, gyms and swimming pools in Guetersloh will now be closed, and picnics and barbecues prohibited, according to Reuters.
Germany was lauded throughout the coronavirus crisis in Europe as a country that had seemingly managed to control the virus' spread, largely through an organized and early contact tracing system, and to have kept the nationwide death toll relatively low.
Now, however, the country has seen a resurgence of cases due to several localized outbreaks in different parts of the country. The surge in infections prompting the reproduction or 'R' rate (which refers to the number of people that an infected individual goes on to infect, on average) to jump to 2.88 at the weekend (it had come down to 2.76 on Monday, and is a moving 4-day average which reflects infection rates about one to two weeks ago). Experts want to keep the R rate under one to be able to control and slow the spread of the virus.
The Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases, collating Germany's coronavirus data and reporting a further 537 cases Monday, bringing the total recorded to 190,359, said that outbreaks primarily in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony are primarily responsible for the increasing case numbers.
The RKI said that as well as outbreaks continuing to be seen in nursing homes and hospitals, outbreaks have been reported in several German states "including in institutions for asylum seekers and refugees, in meat processing plants and logistics companies, among seasonal harvest workers and in connection with religious events and family gatherings."
The biggest contributing factor to the surge in cases has been an outbreak at the meat-processing plant in Guetersloh in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state with by far the largest amount of coronavirus cases, with over 41,000, according to RKI data.
Over 1,000 employees at the factory, the largest such plant in Europe and run by German meat giant Tonnies, tested positive for Covid-19, the RKI said Monday. Some reports suggest more than 1,300 people are infected at the plant, where around 7,000 people are employed.
© Sascha Schuermann
The Toennies meat packing plant stands during the coronavirus pandemic in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck on June 19, 2020 near Guetersloh, Germany.
The plant was promptly closed and all employees (mainly Bulgarian and Romanian workers) quarantined, as well as their household members, as the authorities feared a rampant spread of the virus. All schools and day-care centers in the district were also closed and will remain so until mid-August.
Nonetheless, the outbreak at the meat-processing plant has caused a furor in Germany, with the country's Labor Minister Hubertus Heil saying Sunday that the meat processing company should pay damages, according to public broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
"There must be a civil liability of the company," Heil told a Bild online broadcast, Deutsche Welle reported, with Heil reportedly adding that the company had "taken an entire region hostage" by the company, that he accused of violating the coronavirus restrictions.
The head of the meat processing firm, Clemens Tonnies, took to Twitter on Sunday, saying that the company "accepts its responsibility" and that it would pay for coronavirus testing in the Guetersloh district but he refused to step down following the crisis.
The outbreak at the plant has put a spotlight on working conditions within the meat processing industry in Germany, but it is not the only area that has seen a rise in cases.
The RKI said Monday that a large Covid-19 outbreak in the district of Goettingen in Lower Saxony was traced to family gatherings and another, in Magdeburg in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, emerged in several schools that are now also closed. In Berlin, an outbreak there of 85 cases has been linked to members of a religious community.
bianca etezete
Dagobah Resident
Be aware of the fact that they always speak of "People contracting the virus", aka infected peeps, but very rarely they speak about peeps "falling ill". Huge difference.
I think that they test people at those plants on purpose. Knowing that a load of peeps in general already contracted the virus, and therefore those tested there will in the majority test positive - mostly without falling ill. All those players like Gates and all have invested in those fake meat production sites, deriving meat from cell samples. Just like those manufacturers of "celeb salami" which is gross and cannibalistic.
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In the Netherlands, Covid-19 was allegedly detected in several slaughterhouses (employees allegedly caught the virus, in one case for example 45 out of 115 employees), which according to a poll, led to a quarter of the Dutch population not trusting meat anymore. 23% is thinking of consuming less meat. Some slaughterhouses had to close (temporarily, I think).
So, besides possible meat shortages, there could also be less meat consumption due to fear of somehow contracting the virus by consumption. It seems to me that Covid-1984 is also being milked to further try to lessen meat consumption. Luckily, the majority still enjoys meat, and half of consumers are willing to pay more for meat products if it helps the employees of the slaughterhouses, according to the poll.
So, besides possible meat shortages, there could also be less meat consumption due to fear of somehow contracting the virus by consumption. It seems to me that Covid-1984 is also being milked to further try to lessen meat consumption. Luckily, the majority still enjoys meat, and half of consumers are willing to pay more for meat products if it helps the employees of the slaughterhouses, according to the poll.
