Farmers may have to kill piglets as slaughterhouses close

‘Hogs are backing up on farms with nowhere to go’

Farmers may have to kill and discard baby pigs, as slaughterhouses close amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Hog farmers are struggling to sell pork, as the coronavirus outbreak has left them without staff and buyers, according to a press release from The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC).

In the release, published on Tuesday, the NPPC claimed that the coronavirus pandemic is going to badly affect pork farmers.

“The impact of COVID-19 has caused hog values to plummet, creating a financial disaster for pork producers nationwide who face a collective $5bn loss for the remainder of the year,” their statement read.

The council cited, Dr Dermot Hayes, an economist, and Dr Steve Meyer, a pork industry economist, and said that “hog farmers will lose nearly $37 per hog, or almost $5 bn collectively, for each hog marketed for the rest of the year.”​

Farmers are being left with too many pigs on their farms and with very few options to sell, it is now cheaper to kill the animals, instead of trying to sell them.

NPPC president, Howard Roth, said in a statement that hog farmers are being disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

“Hogs are backing up on farms with nowhere to go, leaving farmers with tragic choices to make,” he said.

“Dairy producers can dump milk. Fruit and vegetable growers can dump produce. But, hog farmers have nowhere to move their hogs.”

Mr Roth told Business Insider that farmers are going to have to start euthanising​ the pigs, unless there is “significant government intervention,” to help the farms.

As the economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic continue to manifest, forcing further tough decisions for businesses, the virus continues to spread.

A tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, reports that by Wednesday, 609,696 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 26,059.