Where’s the beef?

That question could be on the lips of more and more Americans as an alarming number of meat processing plants are closing due to infections of the Chinese coronarvirus.

More than 150 of the nation’s largest meat packing plants are located in hotbeds of infection. They represent about one third of the meat processing industry.

And the rate of infection around these plants is higher than the average for the rest of the country.

As of April, more than 2,000 workers in about 50 plants were infected. More than a dozen plants have closed to try to stem the infection rate.

Smithfield’s Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant closed on April 12 after it found 200 confirmed cases of the Chinese coronavirus. That number has soared to more than 900 – that’s one of the biggest clusters of infection in America. 

The industry is taking dramatic steps to keep the plants open and supply the nation with food. Some of the plants have already re-opened with more stringent precautions.

This could lead to shortages of beef, poultry and pork. When plants close, the food pipeline suffers. Livestock backs up on farms.

Already, there is evidence of panic buying. Reasors Grocery in Tulsa closed its fresh meat counter due to the coronavirus shortages.

Industry analysts say chances of a big shortage of meat are remote. But oil analysts never thought a barrel of oil would have a negative price but that happened in April.

This is a problem that could last after the coronavirus subsides. Oklahoma has a magnificent cattle industry and let’s hope their innovation and hard work helps the Sooner State and the rest of the nation.