The 2017 Cattle Industry Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Trade Show is underway in Nashville, Tennessee. NCBA kicked off the convention this week with Cattlemen’s College educational sessions focusing on profitability, productivity and sustainability. Speaking to attendees Wednesday, Cameron Bruett (brew-it) of JBS USA, emphasized the significant challenges posed by competing proteins, an uncertain political environment and its impact on labor in the United States. Bruett said: “It’s very difficult to find someone to work in a packing plant.” He detailed how a majority of the JBS USA packing plant workforce is comprised of first-generation immigrants. Bruett told attendees the current bottleneck in the beef industry is “a labor shortage in the plant,” adding “it’s a major problem.”
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.