A livestock economist says the future of meat processing will likely take one of two routes depending on COVID-19.

The University of Missouri’s Scott Brown tells Brownfield there is a lot of legislative and producer interest in supporting small meat processors.

“There’s certainly an interest right now in local meat from consumers and I think they’re willing to pay some premium for that product,” Brown said. “For me, if we continue to have these other events continuing to unfold, I think, that’s where we have some real opportunity for these smaller processors.”

But he said if COVID-19 is reigned in and the meat supply chain stabilizes, meat consumers might favor other qualities.

…