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Young farmer recognizes work of small meat processors during pandemic

An Illinois cattle producer says the small meat packers are the unsung heroes for the industry during the pandemic. 

Nowell Moore raises belted cattle and is an ag engineer for 360 Yield Center.  He tells Brownfield his local processor and others were plagued with demand overnight.

“They were able to kind of pick-up the pieces and increase capacity really impressively and I know that doesn’t come without cost.”

One pork producer in his county was told by his contractor they would not be able to process animals for an additional four to six months because of pandemic delays.

“They went to Facebook and the community and these smaller processing facilities picked up where there larger ones couldn’t keep up and they were actually able to process all of those animals without any losses.”

Those experiences with supply chain issues helped Moore win this year’s Illinois Farm Bureau Discussion Meet.

Brownfield’s Nicole Heslip interviewed Moore at the 2021 IFB Annual Meeting in Chicago.