An inside look at the JBS plant in Brooks during the Covid-19 outbreak

By Sheri Monk

During the first wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, April was hard on Alberta’s two biggest beef packing plants, JBS in Brooks and Cargill in High River. To get the outbreaks under control, both plants had to shut down for a two-week period. In total, there were more than 600 cases at JBS, and nearly 1,000 at Cargill – crowning it the worst outbreak in Canada since the start of the pandemic.

Last month, the Olymel pork processing plant in Red Deer experienced an outbreak with more than 500 workers infected. That plant too was closed for two weeks to contain the spread. Harmony Beef in Balzac has experienced three separate, but much smaller outbreaks. The Cargill plant in Guelph, Ontario had nearly 10 per cent of its workers test positive, and plants in the U.S. have been hit hard.

In total, at least seven deaths have been attributed to the meat plant outbreaks in Alberta, with the youngest victim being in their 30s.

Packing plants, by necessity, are designed to maximize space – it’s a meat disassembly line, and before Covid, workers were side-by-side, often elbow-to-elbow.

M, whose true identity is being protected, works at the JBS plant in Brooks. They said before the virus was discovered in Canada, it was business as usual at the plant until mid-March, long before the first case.

“That’s when they started putting in social distancing, putting signs up, people had to wear masks, and they had sanitization stations for your hands. When you walked into the building, you were checked for temperature.”

With hundreds and hundreds of workers showing up for each shift, taking everyone’s temperature was time-consuming, but necessary.

“I remember the long lines of traffic coming into the plant because everyone had to be checked,” M said. “They used to take the body temperature manually, with a held thermometer, but they put in the ones that you can see on the monitor when you walk through security. It’s very high tech.”

T, another worker at the plant, actually contracted Covid-19 at work and is still struggling with the consequences of the virus.

“I was really sick. I didn’t think I was going to make it. It was a rough time. There are lots of side effects. It’s a way of life for me now.”

When the outbreak began, there was a range of reactions among workers. Some were in denial, others still saw friends socially. Some were afraid to come to work, and others were worried about the future of the plant.

“Some were afraid, yes. There’s no two ways about it,” said T.

“Just like everybody else I was cautious. I was not really scared, but I was cautious. I was washing my hands every 15-20 minutes. My hands got so dried out. Everything was sanitized every two hours – the chairs, the tables – everything,” M said.

Despite the illness, T isn’t holding a grudge.

“They are really concerned for their workers, and what they can do for their workers to help them out. They worked really well with the government, and they went over and beyond. Occupational Health and Safety and Alberta Health – they went through the plant all the time. Whatever recommendations they made, JBS adhered to.”

During the outbreak and the two-week shutdown, other modifications were made, including installing Plexiglass between workers where physical distancing wasn’t possible. Additional breakrooms and locker rooms were built, shifts were staggered, and two-way traffic in the plant was eliminated. The packing business is known more for secrecy than collaboration, but T says that’s exactly what’s been happening since the first outbreaks.

“We had people come looking at what we had done and taking it back to their plants. It’s time to learn from each other. You can’t be selfish anymore – you have to open up your doors and let people see what you’ve done.”

Meanwhile, demand for beef has remained high – and even increased – during the pandemic, despite restaurants across the country being closed for much of the past year. The packing sector has been hugely profitable, with retailers scrambling to buy beef from anywhere they could source it. Western Canadian retailers were even bringing in U.S. product for the first time since before BSE, just to have some steak on the shelves.

“If a normal gross margin might be $300/head, often times over the last couple of years, you would see double that,” said Kevin Grier, a meat and livestock market analyst. In 2020, despite the loss of food service and increased unemployment, it was off the charts again.”

Producers and feedlots however, didn’t always fare as well as beef became backlogged during the shutdowns. More time on the ground means more feed and more expenses – and an on-the-hoof supply glut resulting in lower prices.

“Cattle supplies are ample and packers have had leverage because of those supplies. There was a cloud hanging over the price most of the second half of 2020,” Grier said.

One thing, however is certain – if Alberta’s plants didn’t rise to the Covid challenge, 2020 would been much harder on everyone in the beef business, from the cow-calf producer and all the way up the chain.

“When the pandemic was hitting to the max, everyone was saying it was JBS’ fault. No, it’s not their fault,” said M. “JBS did everything they could to protect us.”

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