Minnesota Pork Plant Euthanizing Thousands of Hogs a Day
30 April 2020 - 6:56AM
Dow Jones News
By Jacob Bunge
A Minnesota pork-processing plant owned by JBS USA Holdings
Inc., forced to close this month due to coronavirus infections, is
being used to euthanize thousands of pigs a day.
Covid-19 related shutdowns have closed some of the meat
industry's biggest plants, taking offline about one-fifth of U.S.
pork-processing capacity and leaving farmers with roughly 100,000
hogs a day that ordinarily would have gone to slaughter.
The pig backup risks overcrowding in barns, while tying up space
needed for farmers' next delivery of piglets--forcing farmers
across the Midwest to contemplate large-scale euthanasia.
JBS' Worthington, Minn. plant is now operating with a staff of
10 to 20 solely dedicated to killing hogs, handling about 3,000
Wednesday, according to U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, who held a press
conference in the city on Wednesday. JBS said the plant expects
eventually to be able to euthanize 13,000 hogs daily. Carcasses
will be rendered, composted or buried.
Mr. Peterson said that he is talking with U.S. Department of
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue about a plan to compensate
farmers for hogs that have to be put down. Other shuttered pork
plants could also be used as euthanasia sites, Mr. Peterson
said.
"I'm hoping that until we get these plants open, we can use
these plants to get through the backlog of hogs," he said.
Write to Jacob Bunge at Jacob.bunge@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 29, 2020 16:41 ET (20:41 GMT)
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