Despite the federal government's order on April 28 for meat packing plants to stay open, many processing plants have struggled with a shortage of workers - with some plants closing briefly - due to worker fears that Covid-19 infection spread continues to be likely despite management attempts. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 80% of the beef and pork industries' workers, estimates 30-50% of meatpacking employees were not in attendance last week. While Tyson, Smithfield, and other companies say they have taken extensive measures to protect workers, many workers still fear getting the virus after persistent coronavirus outbreaks in April and May. In order to make up for the decreased numbers of workers, the meat companies have shifted production away from products that take more time (boneless hams), and and have thrown out products previously sold, such as offal.
See "Meat production remains down as processing plants remain short of workers due to perceived risks", Tom Polansek, Andy Sullivan, Reuters, June 15, 2020