U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), a longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) Tuesday requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) allow meat and poultry products that have been inspected by state-approved meat and poultry inspection programs to be donated or sold across state lines. COVID-19 outbreaks in processing facilities, like the one at the Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., have significantly affected meat processing capacity, and the livestock processing backlog is expected to remain in the near term.
“USDA should utilize the authority under this executive order to the greatest extent possible to maintain our animal protein supply chain,” the delegation wrote. “Specifically, we request that you consider allowing state inspected meat and poultry products to be donated or sold across state lines during this crisis. Doing so would help ensure that we are fully utilizing our meat processing capacity and providing consumers access to safe, high quality meat products.”
