115 The Beef Industry in a Post-Pandemic World

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused unprecedented shocks and disruptions in the cattle and beef industry The shutdown of food service in March 2020 caused an unparalleled stacking of food demand on the retail grocery sector The rigidity and specialized nature of food service and retail grocery supply chains, compounded by a surge in consumer demand at retail grocery, resulted in temporary shortages of meat in other consumer products in supermarkets The food service sector recovered somewhat over many weeks but remained diminished through the balance of 2020 and beyond In April 2020, COVID-19 infections affected the labor forces of many meat packing and processing facilities and resulted in significant reductions in beef packing and further processing for eight to twelve weeks This caused additional product shortages in retail grocery and food service sectors These impacts have raised many questions about how the beef industry might adapt to be more resilient in the face of such profound disruptions Possible changes include more use of multi-purpose facilities (less specialized for food service or retail grocery supply chains);design changes in new plants and retrofitting existing facilities to reduce human health impacts;changes in labor management;changes in inventory management;and changes in business supply chain management and risk assessment practices [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Animal Science is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )