With closed plants and a growing backlog of hogs, depopulation has begun for Minnesota’s swine herd and will accelerate this week. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has resources available on euthanasia and carcass disposal on its website. Indemnity payments are not available at this time. “The programs we have are for foreign animal disease and these are healthy animals; this is a food chain issue and that’s a difficult thing.” Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen says the state is doing everything possible to deal with this backlog. Smaller plants are taking in additional hogs, but Petersen says those facilities can typically handle 50-or-100 pigs and not the thousands that are now without a market. It is estimated as many as 200,000 pigs are at risk in Minnesota. “I’ve probably taken the toughest calls I’ve had in my 20 years of being involved in ag,” says Petersen. “Farmers are making real life decisions. Not only are they killing livestock, they are losing money and they have been losing money for years.” Petersen emphasizes pork is safe to eat and consumers should be confident in the safety of their food supply.
News Categories
Latest RRFN Podcasts
Subscribe to RRFN
Get a weekly digest from RRFN to stay up-to-date on all the latest news in agriculture.