DES MOINES, Iowa — With the coronavirus pandemic greatly impacting the meatpacking industry in the U.S., farmers may be forced to euthanize millions of pigs over the next few months to avoid overcrowding, according to the National Pork Producers Council.
The National Pork Producers Council said recently that more than 170,000 market-ready hogs per day can't be sent to processing plants and as a result, around 10 million pigs will need to be euthanized by mid-September because the hogs will have "no place to go." The group called euthanasia the "only humane response" in order to prevent animal suffering.
Local 5 spoke to Pete Thomas, a veterinarian for Iowa Select Farms who has been going around to euthanize some hogs on Iowa farms during the pandemic.
"It's been a really tough few weeks," said Thomas. "I can't even begin to describe how difficult and emotional the past few weeks have been. all producers feel the same way. I grew up on a small farm in Iowa. This is something that we haven't seen this type of circumstance occur before. this is a very emotional time for people. It's emotional for everybody..."
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The meatpacking industry has been dealing with a number of production challenges caused by the coronavirus, and several large plants had to close temporarily because of outbreaks of COVID-19, the disease it causes. At least 30 U.S. meatpacking workers have died of COVID-19 and another 10,000 have been infected or exposed to the virus, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents roughly 80 percent of the country's beef and pork workers and 33 percent of its poultry workers.
Thomas told Local 5 that pork producers in Iowa are trying to keep as many hogs as possible in the food supply chain right now.
"We are trying to optimize our capacity, but really the truth is we are a million and a half pigs backed up in the U.S. already," said Thomas. "We have taken pigs to other marketing channels. We are working closely with Iowa Pork Producers to donate as many pigs as possible...We are just at a point right now that we are continuing to dig a deeper hole every day that 10 million pigs number could be realistic."
The National Pork Producers Council has asked for $505 million to help pay for costs related to euthanasia and disposal of the carcasses. Additionally, the council is asking for Congress to fund $1.173 billion in federal aid for farmers who can't sell pigs due to plant closures or slow downs.