Meat: “Consumers will see an impact at the grocery store as production slows,”

Following on yesterday's quick hit "Tyson says it will close its Waterloo pork processing plant indefinitely due to COVID-19", I should have stressed how big that Tyson plant is.
From Reuters:

Coronavirus forces Tyson Foods to shutter two major U.S. pork plants

Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) is shuttering two pork processing plants, including its largest in the United States, to contain the spread of the coronavirus, further tightening meat supplies after other major slaughterhouse shutdowns. 

The closures are limiting the amount of meat the United States can produce during the outbreak and adding stress on farmers who are losing markets for their pigs.

Lockdowns that aim to stop the spread of the coronavirus have also prevented farmers around the globe from delivering food products to consumers. Millions of laborers cannot get to fields for harvesting and planting, and there are too few truckers to keep goods moving.

Tyson Foods, the largest U.S. meat supplier, said it will indefinitely suspend operations at its largest pork plant in Waterloo, Iowa, after operating at reduced capacity.

Plant employees tested positive for the virus, and others stayed home out of fear of becoming infected. The facility slaughters about 19,500 hogs a day, or about 5% of total U.S. pork production, according to industry data.

Tyson also plans to close a pork processing facility in Logansport, Indiana, while its more than 2,200 workers at the plant undergo testing for COVID-19.
“Consumers will see an impact at the grocery store as production slows,” Tyson Fresh Meats Group President Steve Stouffer said.

“It means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nation’s pork supply.”

When the Logansport facility closes, slaughterhouses that account for 19% of pork production in the United States will be shut.

Brazilian-owned JBS USA and WH Group’s Smithfield Foods have also each indefinitely closed massive pork plants in Minnesota and South Dakota, respectively.
Reduced meat output comes as demand has increased at grocery stores, while restaurant dining rooms are closed due to the virus....MORE

Previously:
"COVID19 at Meat-Processing Plants Highlights Key Link, and Vulnerabilities, In Food Supply Chain"
April 16 
"How Covid-19 is impacting various points in the US food & ag supply chain"
Well...for one thing you're seeing some empty grocery shelves not because of food shortages but because so much food was shipped to restaurants in large containers that, with restaurants closed there is still demand for those foods but packagers haven't been able to shift to smaller "family-size" or "individual' containers.

Strange little bottlenecks popping up all over.....
April 13
Largest Pork Processor:"....country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply".
Because farmers and ranchers can't sell to closed processing plants, their prices go down at the same time retail supply is curtailed forcing those prices up, and maybe way up.....

April 8
"How the coronavirus crisis is affecting food supply"
Today's word is: crosscurrents....