Monday, 29 June 2020 09:42

Pig of a situation in the US

Written by  Staff Reporters
US farmers say without government assistance, pigs may soon need to be culled on farms as there will be no room for them in pork plants. US farmers say without government assistance, pigs may soon need to be culled on farms as there will be no room for them in pork plants.

US pig farmers could soon be culling on-site due to a COVID-19 induced backup at meatpacking plants. 

According to a report by the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN), as many as 2 million pigs may be backed up on US farms due to slowed production and closures of meatpacking plants.

The statistics are based on claims from three US economists during a teleconference sponsored by the National Pork Board.

David Miller of Decision Innovation Solutions, associate professor Lee Schulz of Iowa State University, and associate professor Scott Brown of the University of Missouri all agreed during the teleconference last Thursday that a large number of pigs will be backed up.

Schulz says the backlog could exceed 2.2 million heads, whereas Miller estimated a backlog of 1.2 million and around 2.1 heads having disappeared since March 1, either due to direct sales, custom butchering, or euthanasia by farmers. 

Brown says his estimates would be closer to Miller, who also claimed that pork prices in Autumn could be 20% to 25% lower than the year prior due to the potential backlog.

FERN says that USA pig farmers are using the numbers as evidence they need government further government support. Without such support, they say pigs may need to be culled on farms as there will be no room for them in pork plants. 

More like this

Pork imports furore

Pork farmers says a significant influx of imported pork is causing them concern.

Pig ignorant!

OPINION: Your old mate notes that regulations governing NZ's pig sector could end up seeing us running out of locally produced pork - like we are currently experiencing with eggs.

Featured

Big return on a small investment

Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.

Editorial: Sensible move

OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Overbearing?

OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…

Foot-in-mouth

OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter