Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 6/15/20

Driven by a cultural shift toward buying local and the closure of large meatpacking plants due to coronavirus outbreaks, small processors have seen an influx of business amid the pandemic. But the rising demand could do more harm than good if Congress and the Agriculture Department don’t throw small meatpackers a regulatory lifeline, POLITICO's Ximena Bustillo writes.

Most small plants can only kill 10 to 20 animals per day, and they can’t easily increase their speed or volume, says Rebecca Thistlethwaite, director of the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network. Meanwhile, the large facilities that employ thousands of workers can slaughter up to 20,000 per day, she said.

As livestock producers with fewer options to sell their animals increasingly turned to smaller packers, those plants scrambled to invest in bigger coolers, freezers, holding bins and other operating needs just to keep up with the amount of product coming in. Many have backlogs stretching longer than a year.

To ease the demand, small processors, ranchers and other advocates are calling for financial support from Congress and regulatory changes like waiving overtime fees, on top of broader antitrust enforcement in the heavily concentrated industry.