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Pork producer braces for fallout from limited processing line speeds
A Minnesota pork producer is bracing for the fallout of a recent U.S. District Court decision that would decrease pork processing capacity.
Speaking to Brownfield at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Terry Wolters of Pipestone says limiting line speeds to just over 1,100 head an hour would hit his region hard.
“It’s a 20 to 25 percent decrease in harvest capacity in the Minnesota area with the Austin plant being very close to home (and) the Fremont plant in Nebraska.”
Wolters, the president-elect of the National Pork Producers Council, says if the ruling stands it will drive consolidation and increase prices for consumers.
“Here we have a judge (who) with a single stroke of a pen makes a ruling that puts us producers in a position that we can’t compete, and we aren’t going to have a place for our pigs.”
Last week, a district judge in Minnesota vacated a portion of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s final rule that allowed for an unlimited maximum line speed.
Wolters says the ruling appears to be related to worker safety, but he suggests limiting line speeds would result in working longer hours or more days a week to cover displaced hog processing.
