Finding and retaining workers is an ongoing challenge for many meat and poultry processing businesses, and the tight labor market has led many to adopt — or at least consider adopting — automation.
“Substituting automation for ‘warm bodies’ seems to be one of, if not the main, options for processors these days for the small hiring pool,” AAMP Outreach Specialist Nelson Gaydos said. “Trimming and deboning is vital to generating the meat that will become value-added products, but it is a very labor-intensive job — a job that can be difficult to keep filled.”