LITTLE ROCK, Ark — One of the world's largest meat suppliers shut down operations on Tuesday after they were hit by a cyberattack.
This all comes after the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack in May.
JBS meat supplier is one of three major companies that supply 80% of the meat we eat and buy every day.
While experts like Steve Goode said they are closely watching this, there's no need to panic buy meat for your next grill out.
"I think time is the key," he said.
After a cyber security attack over the weekend hit the world's largest meat supplier, Goode said people in the grocery industry are watching that clock closely.
"If they get back up today, tomorrow, I think it's probably just an inconvenience. Anything that stretches out for a week or longer, it probably becomes a problem," he said.
As Executive Director of the Arkansas Grocers and Retails Merchants Association, Goode said the news is a concern, especially at a time when meat prices are at an all-time high.
"As restaurants have opened back up, there's kind of a competition between retail grocery stores and restaurants for steaks, for the meat," he said.
According to Goode, right now with the JBS shut down in the early stages, don't expect meat to disappear from store shelves or prices to sky rocket.
"Wholesale pricing really hadn't taken any increases over from Friday to today," he said.
While Goode's grocery stores have the possibility of being affected if the shutdown continues, butcher shops, like Local Farm to Fork, have no concerns.
"All of our beef is locally raised on our family farm here in pleasant plain's Arkansas," Co-Owner Anne Womack said.
She said at Local Farm to Fork Butcher Shop, they are their own growers and supply chain.
This leaves them untouched when manufacturer hiccups like this one come along, according to Womack.
"We have that supply, we aren't dependent on the supply from the imports so we have what need to supply our community," she said.
With everything happening around the nation, Womack believes there's no better time to shop local.
"Local businesses are key to our communities, so anytime you can shop local I think that that is very important," she said.
Goode said this shutdown could have caused minor inconveniences for some cattle farmers, but right now retailers and consumers won't see an impact, unless the meat plants stay down for a week or longer.