June 22, 2020
Amid the global economic contraction, increases in U.S. agricultural exports have been limited, particularly with respect to China. Growth in trade with China, a key source of demand for many major U.S. agricultural commodities, remained subdued through April. Exports to China increased about 18 percent from the same period a year ago, but remained well below levels reached during this time in 2017. Exports to all other destinations remained slightly higher than 2017, but the increase was not enough to offset the reduction in exports to China.

June 22, 2020
Ethanol production declined sharply in late March and appears likely to remain subdued in the coming months. In the midst of developments surrounding COVID-19, ethanol production declined 6 percent in March and 45 percent in April from year-ago levels. Activity rebounded slightly in May, but remained 34 percent lower than a year ago. Although more recent estimates point to a slightly stronger recovery in the outlook for 2021, expectations as of June remain below levels forecasted in March. Lower ethanol production will reduce demand for corn in 2020 and the June projections also suggest the effects of the pandemic on ethanol and corn markets could last longer than previously anticipated.

June 22, 2020
All previously idle meat packing plants have reopened, but effects of COVID-19 continued to impede supply chain functions. The first outbreak of COVID-19 in the meat packing industry occurred on March 31, 2020, at a beef packing plant in Pennsylvania. Since then, almost half of plants that reported an outbreak closed for some period of time. In fact, most facilities that did close were shut down for more than one week. As of June 22, 2020, all beef, pork, and poultry packing plants that had closed due to COVID-19 were reopened and operating. However, the magnitude and duration of closures and ongoing concerns about the spread of the virus has raised questions about implications for meat production and the supply chain moving forward.

June 22, 2020
Capacity utilization at meat packing plants increased slightly since early May, but appeared to remain slightly limited by modified operations. After declining sharply alongside closures, the percent of total capacity being used at U.S. beef and pork plants expanded as facilities reopened. Despite fewer plant closures, modified operations related to social distancing and other precautionary measures have continued to impact overall production capabilities. Through the third week of June, beef and pork plants were utilizing about 95 percent and 92 of pre-pandemic capacity, respectively.

June 22, 2020
Alongside reduced operational capacity at packing plants, meat production continued to lag 2019 levels. As packing plants reopened, daily slaughter of cattle and hogs increased from lows reached in early May. However, both beef and pork production remained more than 5 percent lower than a year ago during the first week in June. It appeared that modified operations and revised processes related to COVID-19 have continued to put some constraints on production, even as plants have resumed operations.

June 22, 2020
Compounding the challenges facing U.S. meat supply chains related to COVID-19 outbreaks at packing plants, consumers rapidly shifted purchases of food from foodservice to retail outlets in March. Foot traffic at supermarkets was roughly double that of restaurants in March and April and remained about 30 percent higher in early June.  At the same time in 2019, supermarkets and restaurants had equal amounts of foot traffic. The combination of challenges caused wholesale meat prices to increase substantially and also put upward pressure on retail meat prices. Through the first part of June, prices for boxed beef cutouts remained about 10 percent higher than the beginning of the year and pork carcass cutouts had stabilized. 

June 12, 2020
All previously idle meat packing plants have reopened, but effects of COVID-19 continued to impede supply chain functions. The first outbreak of COVID-19 in the meat packing industry occurred on March 31, 2020, at a beef packing plant in Pennsylvania. Since then, almost half of plants that reported an outbreak closed for some period of time. In fact, most facilities that did close were shut down for more than one week. As of June 12, 2020, all beef, pork, and poultry packing plants that had closed due to COVID-19 were reopened and operating. However, the magnitude and duration of the closures has raised questions about the implications for meat production and the supply chain moving forward.