Open Markets: Agriculture Department Should Use Packers and Stockyards Act to Protect Farmers From Meatpacker Abuse March 13, 2020 Washington, DC — The Open Markets Institute urges the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to curtail meatpackers’ abusive tactics and to stand up to judicial overreach by reviving the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA), in a…

Economic Concentration Multinational Meat Farms Could Be Making Us Sick Packing thousands of drugged-up animals in metal sheds, ignoring health concerns, makes perfect breeding grounds for pandemic. A meat processing plant in South Sioux City, Nebraska. (Photo by Carol Guzy/The Washington Post via Getty Images) April 21, 2020 Austin Frerick and Charlie Mitchell In the…

Meatpacking woes lead farmers to consider euthanizing hogs, holding back market-ready cattle · By Paul Hammel World-Herald staff writer Apr 23,2020 Jim Bartling in one of his family’s hog barns in Unadilla, Nebraska, on Wednesday. “The problem with being a hog farmer is that I just can’t shut the door and lock it like store…

Ricketts defends meatpacking plants, says they need to stay open despite coronavirus cases · By Martha Stoddard World-Herald Bureau · Apr 23, 2020 Updated 1 hr ago LINCOLN — Gov. Pete Ricketts said Nebraska is working to keep meatpacking plants open despite soaring numbers of coronavirus cases in those communities. Shutting down the plants, as…

At Beleaguered U.S. Meat Plants, Inspectors Are Getting Sick Too By Deena Shanker and Lydia Mulvany April 23, 2020, 7:06 AM MDT Updated on April 23, 2020, 7:41 AM MDT Concern grows about infected workers traveling among plants Federal employees mandated with monitoring safety conditions One hundred U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors have tested positive…

Agriculture Department leaves meat inspectors hunting for safety gear Little guidance has been issued from the department on how to contain outbreaks at meatpacking plants. The Department of Agriculture said the protective masks for inspectors are in short supply. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images By LIZ CRAMPTON 04/22/2020 05:20 PM EDT The U.S. Department of Agriculture…

UFCW union asks USDA for meat plant worker protections By Susan Kelly on 4/23/2020 The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) sent a letter to USDA this week calling for a series of actions to protect plant employees and the nation’s food supply. The union, which represents more than 250,000 U.S. meatpacking and…

Poor Conditions at Meatpacking Plants Have Long Put Workers at Risk. The Pandemic Makes it Much Worse. Plant closures due to coronavirus outbreaks—and deaths—among workers underscore existing problems. By Gosia Wozniacka Posted on: April 17, 2020 | Leave a Comment April 22, 2020 update: Tyson Foods, Inc. halted its largest pork plant, becoming the third…

Coronavirus cases in Lexington area have more than doubled in a week · By Nancy Gaarder World-Herald staff writer 4.20.20 The central Nebraska county that is home to Lexington has seen a surge in coronavirus cases in the past week and now ranks third-highest in the state. Nebraska had recorded 1,474 cases of COVID-19, the…

Published Friday, April 17, 2020 Quiet Storm BY ART CULLEN Knives of anxiety cut to our quick as we pray for the workers processing turkeys and hogs into our food. At Smithfield in Sioux Falls, at least 545 of 3,700 workers tested positive for COVID-19. The plant shut down. The Smithfield CEO warned that there…