Local impact varies

Agriculture has not been immune to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though the actual virus doesn’t affect livestock as it has little to no affect on most animals, a lack of demand from restaurants for crops has had a significant financial impact on certain industries.

The pandemic has affected some industries more than others, however. While the demand for corn and soybeans has plummeted, operations have been “pretty much normal, with a few exceptions” for Minnich Poultry, chief financial officer Steve Reier said.

Demand for eggs has actually gone up compared to 2019, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The country has an ample supply of meat, eggs and dairy products and production is up from 2019 in those industries, the USDA reports.

Reier said Indiana State Department of Agriculture and other statewide agriculture organizations and operations have been in constant contact with one another over video and phone calls. It has led to the communication of best practices among industry leaders.

“I think that’s really helpful from an industry,” said Reier. “Everybody gets better.”

Nationwide, corn and soybean prices have dropped to some of its lowest prices of the past 10 years. According to a report from Purdue University, fuel prices and demand, particularly ethanol, has plummeted this year. (See a related story about the outlook for corn and soybeans for the 2020 growing season.)

As a result, POET, parent of POET Biorefining-Portland, paused production at plants in Chancellor, South Dakota, Ashton, Iowa, and Coon Rapids, Iowa, and delayed the start-up of its new plant in Shelbyville.

In addition to livestock feed, POET Biorefining-Portland primarily produces ethanol. The plant makes around 68 million gallons of ethanol a year.

“Corn has been on an uninterrupted slide. With all three major demand sectors at risk amid coronavirus fallout, prices have seen a washout to remember,” wrote Jacob Christy in a newsletter for The Andersons. The Andersons, of which Christy is a senior merchant, owns an operation in Dunkirk.

Last week, President Donald Trump announced the USDA will donate $16 billion in direct grants to farming businesses to help offset the amount of money lost from the pandemic.

Wheat demand has stayed relatively steady for The Andersons and other operations.

Cooper Farms, which owns mills in Fort Recovery, projects future gains for wheat in the coming months, according to its website.

Most operations have detailed various social distancing guidelines. Many aren’t letting truck drivers and buyers and sellers into its buildings when they are picking up or dropping off product.

Implementing social distancing guidelines in egg production is much easier than a place such as meat packing plant, Reier said. The 100 or so employees at Minnich Poultry take breaks at different times and avoid congregating to cut down on social contact, he said.

To help his employees during this difficult time, Reier said each employee received a $2 per hour raise. He warned his employees, however, that blatant disregard for social distancing at and outside of work would result in time off.

“We try to educate everybody about the importance of separation and doing the right thing to try to control this virus,” Reier said.

The biggest challenges from a production standpoint for egg suppliers is how to keep eggs available on grocery store shelves, Reier said. The entire egg production industry is in shortage of egg cartons since carton producers weren’t expecting a rise in demand for eggs from grocery stores.

Reier explained Minnich Poultry has two main supply chains — restaurants and retail stores. The demand for eggs from restaurants has sharply declined since they have been reduced to drive thru and carry out in the Midwest. Restaurants aren’t making as much food, meaning they need less product, while demand for eggs at retail stores has increased dramatically.

Eggs are packaged in much larger containers when sent to restaurants than when they’re sent to grocery stores because customers want their eggs by the dozen rather than in packs of 30 or 50. It takes time to produce those egg cartons, however, leading to longer than usual shipping times for cartons and producers requiring carton buyers to buy in bulk, Reier said.

When it comes to sanitation, keeping the production side of things as clean as possible is just an extension of what Minnich Poultry has done for years, Reier said.

“We do this for the chickens all the time,” Reier said about cleaning the production line regularly, adding that chickens have to be healthy to lay good eggs anyway. Controlling animals and their sanitation is a lot easier than controlling humans, he added.