Farmers will have to euthanize millions of pigs as meat plants remain closed – By Sophie Lewis (CBS News) / May 14 2020
Food banks are experiencing unprecedented demand and some grocery stores are rationing meat during the coronavirus pandemic. But as meat processing plants remain shuttered, farmers will have to euthanize up to 10 million pigs by mid-September to avoid overcrowding, according to the National Pork Producers Council.
Many farmers take pride in raising livestock to be consumed by hungry families. Now, they are being forced to euthanize and dispose of animals with nowhere else to go, a process that is equal parts financially crippling and emotionally heartbreaking.
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) said last week that approximately 170,000 pigs per day cannot be sent to plants — and there is not nearly enough space to house all of them. The council called the euthanization of up to 10 million hogs in the coming months “the only humane option” to avoid overcrowding on farms, a sentiment echoed by meat companies.
An ongoing investigation found that 14,000 confirmed coronavirus cases are tied to 181 meat processing plants across the U.S., and at least 54 employees have died as of Thursday. Some plants have reopened with limited operating capacity since the Defense Production Act was enforced in late April, but many hogs have now grown too large to be slaughtered commercially, leaving farmers no way to convert them into food.
Continue to article: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/farmers-euthanize-millions-pigs-meat-plants-close-coronavirus/
