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: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...