Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles is calling on Gov. Andy Beshear to expand Kentucky’s meat processing industry in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, Quarles sent a letter to Beshear encouraging him to allocate $2 million of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to expand meat processing in Kentucky as an avenue to reduce the state’s reliance on out-of-state meat processors.
“Early on during the pandemic, our food supply system was tested and we saw some temporary shortages of meat products on grocery shelves,” Quarles said. “The Kentucky Agriculture Development Board moved quickly to establish a fund to incentivize meat processing expansion in the Commonwealth using dollars set aside to diversify our agriculture industry, nearly all of which has been committed. I have since learned that other states have used CARES Act funding to support agriculture. Today I have requested the Governor allocate $2 million of Kentucky’s $1.7 billion in CARES Act funding to help prevent meat shortages in the future.”
In his letter to Beshear, Quarles highlighted that the shutdown of the American economy as a result of the virus resulted in, “temporary backlogs of meat processing,” which in turn led to very noticeable shortages in grocery stores.
As a result of these shortages, the Kentucky Agriculture Development Board established a Meat Processing Incentive Program (MPIP) in May to encourage the state’s existing processors to expand their operations.
Oklahoma, Iowa, Arkansas and Wyoming have already used CARES Act funding for the purpose of expanding their meat processing industry to limit out-of-state reliance, Quarles said.
“Every time there is a slowdown at a processing plant, there is a ripple effect,” he said. “Shortages of product, increase in cost at the grocery level, and price erosion at the farm level. Making these investments now will help every part of our food chain, including our farmers, consumers, and businesses.”
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