SMALLER meat and poultry processors in 17 US States will receive US$115 million (A$150m) in grants, the US Department of Agriculture announced last week, as the agency “continues efforts to shift a decades-long trend in consolidation in food production.”
The investment comes two years after 40 percent of US beef processing capacity was lost for some weeks due to COVID-related absenteeism, sickness or reduced plant manning levels. The event caused some food security alarm in the US and produced a brief, but dramatic spike in demand and prices for Australian imported beef.
USDA…
