Just as virus-spooked consumers have rushed to grocery stores to stockpile everything from toilet paper to pasta, farmers raising America’s cattle, hogs, and chickens have filled their bins with feed, fearing the spread of the coronavirus would disrupt their supply chains, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.
Farmers are worried their feed mills could close as employees get sick or that their slaughterhouses could slow production, forcing them to keep animals for longer. They’re also concerned that a shortage of trucks, which are being waylaid to supply supermarkets, could make it harder for farm supplies to reach them.
“What we are seeing isn’t a run on feed, but a keep-everything-full scenario,” David Hoogmoed, president of the Purina Animal Nutrition unit of Land O’ Lakes Inc., told Bloomberg Businessweek.
