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Producer discusses impact of meat processing plant closures during COVID-19

A central Indiana pork producer says the recent meat processing plant closures are a concern.

Mike Beard says more than 90 percent of his hogs are shipped to two facilities that temporarily closed recently – Tyson in Logansport and Indiana Packers Corporation in Delphi.

“For me and for this area it was very concerning because you can’t shut off the growth of the hogs and you can’t stop the flow of the new ones coming in without having to sacrifice the animals and we don’t want to do that,” he says. “We’re in the business of raising animals.”

Beard says President Trump’s executive order requiring meat and processing plants to remain open is good news, but questions remain.

“The question of course is whether or not they can keep full staff so they can run at capacity but now that we’re back up, we have to run at more than capacity,” he says.  “If you’ve watched the hog numbers recently you know that we need all plants in the US to be running at full capacity for the next few months.”

Beard, who is president of the Indiana Corn Growers Association, raises hogs, corn, and soybeans in Clinton County.