Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 4/25/20

The rash of meatpacking plant shutdowns has jammed the food supply chain from farmers to grocery store shoppers. And now economists are warning that consumers could see shortages of meat as soon as May if processing facilities continue to shutter at the same pace, yours truly reports.

Bacon, ham and pork chops could be the first to face actual shortages. The pork industry has been hammered by plant closures — daily slaughter rates are down 25 percent and 400,000 pigs are backed up in slaughterhouses.

And it's not just pork. All meatpacking plants are only operating at 60 percent of capacity, per a CFTC economist. That means beef and poultry could soon see shortages, as well.

But for now, we have plenty of food. The Agriculture Department's monthly tally of meat in warehouse freezers showed total pounds of beef — about 502 million — were up 2 percent. Poultry in storage went up 4 percent, to 1.3 billion pounds. The amount of chicken in storage dipped slightly to about 921 million pounds. Pork stocks, however, have declined by 4 percent to approximately 621 million pounds.