Chicago | Reuters — Meat producer JBS said Wednesday it was reopening a Minnesota pork plant shuttered by the pandemic to euthanize up to 13,000 pigs a day for farmers, not to produce meat for consumers. U.S. farmers have been forced to cull livestock as they run short of space to house animals after some […] Read more
JBS reopens Minnesota pork plant to cull pigs
Pork sector’s calls for aid heard, not yet answered
Federal government says it's examining "all options"
Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau’s office said late last week the government is working “around the clock” to respond to the pandemic’s impact on farmers and agri-food businesses. But there was no commitment to the direct support Canadian pork industry officials say is now necessary to carry the sector through a crisis which has led […] Read more
Smithfield to close Illinois pork facility
Workers test positive for COVID-19
Reuters — World’s largest pork processor Smithfield Foods said Friday it will suspend operations at its Monmouth, Illinois pork processing facility next week after some employees tested positive for COVID-19, adding to already strained U.S. meat supplies. The news of some of the company’s 1,700 employees at the plant testing positive comes a day after […] Read more
Pig farmers seek aid of $20 per hog against market crash
Losses of $675 million expected from COVID-19-related causes
Canada’s hog producers seek an immediate federal cash injection equivalent to $20 per hog against a market crash that’s expected to cost their sector about $675 million overall. Officials with the Canadian Pork Council on Thursday called for Ottawa to provide further aid to hog farmers who are now expecting to lose $30 to more […] Read more
COVID-19 forces Tyson to shutter two major U.S. pork plants
UPDATED — Reuters — Tyson Foods is shuttering two pork processing plants, including its largest in the United States, to contain the spread of the coronavirus, further tightening meat supplies after other major slaughterhouse shutdowns. The closures are limiting the amount of meat the U.S. can produce during the outbreak and adding stress on farmers […] Read more
JBS shuts Minnesota pork plant due to coronavirus
Chicago | Reuters — JBS USA said on Monday it would indefinitely shut a Minnesota hog slaughterhouse that produces about five per cent of the country’s pork, in the latest disruption to the U.S. food supply chain from the coronavirus pandemic. The closure limits the amount of meat the United States can produce for consumers […] Read more
Trump administration aims to buy milk, meat to help farmers, Perdue says
Homeland Security to ease visa rules for ag workers
Reuters — The U.S. government plans to buy milk and meat from farmers as part of an initial US$15.5 billion effort to help them weather the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Wednesday. The decision comes amid rising pressure from the U.S. farm lobby for government purchases as growers and […] Read more
Smithfield shutting South Dakota pork plant indefinitely
Major packer warns of meat shortages during pandemic
Chicago | Reuters — Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork processor, said on Sunday it will shut a U.S. plant indefinitely due to a rash of coronavirus cases among employees and warned the country was moving “perilously close to the edge” in supplies for grocers. Slaughterhouse shutdowns are disrupting the U.S. food supply chain, crimping […] Read more
Quebec pork plant to restart at reduced pace
Olymel plant closed due to COVID-19 cases
Olymel plans to gradually bring a hog plant in Quebec’s Mauricie region out of a two-week shutdown starting Tuesday following a number of COVID-19 cases among its employees. The meat packing arm of Quebec-based Sollio Co-operative Group announced Saturday it will resume slaughter and cutting operations at Yamachiche, Que. starting Tuesday. Nine people working at […] Read more
Smithfield shuts South Dakota pork plant over COVID-19
Chicago | Reuters — Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork processor, is temporarily closing a massive plant at Sioux Falls, S.D., the company said Thursday, after more than 80 workers there tested positive for coronavirus. The shutdown is the latest disruption to the U.S. food supply chain from the pandemic and comes as grocery store […] Read more
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