The decision by Tyson Foods to indefinitely suspend its operations at the pork processing plant in Waterloo could be a big blow to Iowa pork producers. The Tyson plant typically processes over 19,000 hogs each day.
The company closed the plant on Wednesday to protect its 2,800 workers during the COVID-19 outbreak. Mike Paustian, President of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, tells KWQC-TV 6 he worries how farmers like himself will keep up during the pandemic.
He sells nearly 28,000 hogs on his farm in Walcott each year. The COVID-19 pandemic has created backups on pig farms like his.
“Producers are stuck in a situation where our pigs are still growing, but we don’t have anywhere to go with them,” Paustian tells KWQC-TV 6. “Eventually they will get too big and packing plants won’t even want them anymore because they are not designed to handle animals that are that big. We are changing the ingredients in the feedings that we feed to the pigs to try and slow them down so they don’t grow as fast,” he says. “That will buy us a little bit of time.”
Paustian says hogs are also selling for less amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Right now economists are projecting that pork producers will lose about $37 for every animal that we sell the rest of this year.”
He says another discussion taking place among farmers is if pork producers will have to start euthanizing their animals.
“That is a last resort that most producers don’t even want to think about,” Paustian says. “We really hope it doesn’t come to that. That goes against everything we stand for as pork producers. The whole reason we do this is to provide safe and affordable food for people. To see that go to waste would be heartbreaking to say the least.”
Paustian reminds consumers there is no danger in getting COVID-19 from pork. He tells TV6 studies have been done showing that pigs cannot be infected by the virus.