Ag News: R-CALF on Essential Meat and Farm-Direct Orders Up
**R-CALF USA announced its support of President Trump invoking the Defense Production Act to declare meatpacking facilities critical infrastructure that must remain open.
In a letter, R-CALF USA stated the current meat supply chain lacks resiliency and redundancy and threatens the food security interests of the U.S. … "arguably the most vital of interests to all of America.”
They have urged congressional and regulatory reforms of the nation's beef supply chain for decades.
**With restaurants shut and grocery stores posing a coronavirus risk, some Americans are ordering food directly from the farm, a trend small-scale producers hope will outlast the pandemic.
Agweb.com reports, it could be one of the few economic upsides to a crisis that’s emptied streets and shuttered businesses as Americans lock down against the coronavirus.
Many farmers are adopting online ordering and home delivery, transforming old-fashioned farms into consumer-friendly outlets.
**Even as retail demand for beef increased in late March as consumers began to shelter in place, the USDA National Ag Statistics Service reports beef held in cold storage at the end of March was 11% above last year and 2% above February.
Since its peak in late March, federally inspected beef production fell almost 32% through the week ending April 25.
At a time when cattle slaughter numbers increase seasonally, rates for the week ending April 25 were down 28% year-over-year.
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