Re-Opening, but Slower Operating Meat Plants As we reported on Tuesday, the President issued an executive order under the Defense Production Act to keep meat and poultry plants open as critical infrastructure. Here is what that means:
The Secretary of Agriculture is now in charge of keeping packing plants open under the order; this means that USDA will coordinate with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Department of Labor, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in order to ensure that worker safety issues are part of the plants’ oversight, in addition to food and animal health and safety regulated by FSIS and APHIS.
CDC and OSHA have issued worker health and safety guidelines, which include modifie...
What You Need to Know Today: Crude oil prices extended their rally today, supported by several developments, including escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure and growing concerns about supply disruptions. The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to remove 50 perc...
Key Takeaways: The agricultural trade surplus has become a sizable deficit: the balance swung from a $40.1 billion surplus in 2011 to a $40.7 billion deficit in 2025. Imports kept growing while exports lost momentum: between 2020 and 2025, agricultural imports increased 45 percent, compa...
USDA released its October Cattle on Feed report Friday, showing 11.4 million cattle in feedlots with capacity for 1,000 head or more, slightly below last year. September placements were the lowest for the month since records began in 1996, marking the third consecutive month of placements sett...
Total Red Meat & Poultry September 2026 total red meat and poultry stocks totaled 1.97 billion pounds, down 1.4 percent from August despite typically increasing 0.8 percent during the month, and were 1.5 percent below September 2025 levels. The decline pushed total inventories to a new five...
