Pixabay
Pixabay
Many hog farmers are trying to figure out how to keep their pigs from growing quickly due to pork processing plant closures because of COVID-19.
Howard Hill, a farmer from Hardin County, told KCCI such closures are backing up business. Hill said farmers can't keep the animals forever, but without a market to take them too, they're stuck. Possible solutions include switching up what they eat and giving the animals a greater amount of fiber that would slow growth but still fill them up.
During an April press conference Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said these farmers are "dangerously close" to having to humanely put these animals to death.
"It would be a financial catastrophe," Hill said. "You're not going to get anything for those pigs, and then you have to figure out how to do that humanely."
Hill also said another problem is trying to figure out how to dispose of the animals carcasses.
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