High U.S. Meat Prices Are Here to Stay Amid Depleted Reserves
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The Covid-19 outbreak depleted America’s meat reserves, and new data from the U.S. shows they still haven’t recovered.
Beef, pork and chicken in U.S. freezers took a plunge after thousands of slaughterhouse workers caught the virus in 2020 and forced plants to shut down. A labor crunch continues to hurt output. A U.S. report Wednesday showed beef reserves down 7.7% from a year ago in August. Poultry supplies slumped 20% and pork bellies, which are sliced into bacon, dropped 44% to the lowest levels since 2017.