Inside Pigs
Pig slaughter in US is slowly increasing again
The slaughter capacity in the United States has been much lower in recent weeks due to closed slaughterhouses due to corona infections. The number of pig slaughters is now slowly increasing, according to figures from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
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On April 29, the slaughter capacity reached a bottom, when only 267.367 pigs were slaughtered. Under ideal conditions, American slaughter capacity is significantly higher, sometimes as much as 500.000 pigs per day or 2,8 million pigs per week. In the week of April 29, a total of 1,54 million animals were slaughtered, bringing capacity to approximately 55%.
Since then, pig slaughters have cautiously increased again. On Thursday (May 21), the number of slaughters reached 398.000 per day, the highest number since April 17. This means that the sector is recovering somewhat to a capacity of 80%.
Stock of pigs
Because far fewer pigs are being slaughtered than before, the supply continues to pile up. Many farmers can no longer lose their pigs. It was previously announced that many animals were forced to be culled. At the beginning of March, the pig herd was about 4,3% higher than last year.
The slaughter weight of the pigs has also skyrocketed in recent weeks. The average slaughter weight last week was 133,4 kilos, which is approximately 4 kilos higher than last year.
Contamination at Tyson Foods
While many slaughterhouses are carefully reopening, Tyson Foods is still struggling with high infection numbers. Many employees have been infected at a slaughterhouse in North Carolina where chickens are processed. A total of 570 employees tested positive for the coronavirus, representing approximately 28,5% of the total workforce.