COVID-19 infections of workers at U.S. packing plants forced declines in red meat and poultry production during April, with beef production hit the hardest, said USDA economists on Monday. Disruptions will be felt for the rest of the year, but meat production in 2021 is forecast to rise nearly 4% higher than this year due to recovery in all major types of meat.

Beef production, for example, is forecast record-large at 27.5 billion pounds in 2021, up 6% from this year, while pork and chicken meat output would notch solid increases, said the monthly Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook produced by the Economic Research Service. Read more at Successful Farming…