The turkey industry faces growing economic problems, fueled by the terrible drought in the Midwest and a misguided federal ethanol policy that is turning a feed shortage into an acute feed crisis.

Cattle feeders don’t like $7 or $8 corn, but they know what to do at those higher prices.

This special report commemorates the inductees into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame’s Class of 2012, with standard biographies of each inductee plus an exclusive Q&A on that inductee’s career in the meat industry.

We’ve created a new annual award — our Plant of the Year — and asked our readers, Web site visitors and industry contacts to vote, choosing from the list of processing facilities visited by NP from January 2011 through June 2012.

One of the issues that arise with spare parts management in every industry is the management of excess parts.

Several researchers and industry-based opinions have called for a regeneration of cutability determination to better match our industry’s cattle type.

Thirty-one percent of people surveyed in AMI/FMI’s Power of Meat 2012 study said that they regularly cut down on portion sizes of meat and poultry as one of their healthy eating strategies.

It has been said that bacon is meat candy. And this past year, restaurants have pushed the point by literally treating bacon as a sweet garnish for and in sundaes, milkshakes and coffee.

The deli continues to modernize as it remains a destination for convenient meals.

Today, most methods of mass cooking and chilling are pretty economical and sufficient for their purpose. However, processors and manufacturers continue to tweak thermal-processing procedures to eliminate remaining challenges.