Big livestock: A long road ahead to a resilient, water-secure future

The U.S. meat industry is in the midst of extraordinary turmoil as more and more processing plant workers become infected with COVID-19. Supply chains are being tested around the globe with similar disruptions, and in some cases, they are breaking down completely. Understandably, worker well-being is top of mind for investors and companies.

While the meat industry manages these extraordinary public health and economic impacts of the pandemic, there’s another looming global threat on the horizon that the industry cannot afford to ignore. The impacts of the ongoing water crisis have the potential to inflict widespread damage across the industry if preventative, actionable steps aren’t taken today…

The Politicization of Disaster Relief

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Democratic governors have accused the Trump administration of favoritism in determining how the federal government has allocated medical supplies and aid to the states. Critics claim that the process has been politicized, with the administration assisting Republican states while leaving many Democratic states to fend for themselves. A recent New York Times article outlines concerns that $16 billion in pandemic relief for farmers will be used as another tool by the Trump administration to lock up support from farmers and buy votes in key battleground states.

As the article notes, the federal government distributed $28 billion in trade relief to pay farmers for the negative effects of increased tariffs in 2018 and 2019…