Eastern Iowa Farmer Fall 2020

coronavirus
“We did things we never thought we’d do,”
he said. That includes sending pigs to Colorado
and Wisconsin, and turning some animals
loose outside to free up barn space. To safely
slow down the growth of the hogs almost ready
for market, he adjusted diets and bumped up
the temperature in the finishing barn from 62
degrees to 70 degrees – animals, like humans,
tend to eat less when they are warmer.
“Those are the kinds of things we didn’t
have to do before – and they worked. We were
able to hold it together and get pigs to market,”
he said, adding that one unique opportunity
that came out the pandemic was selling pigs
directly to consumers who wanted to put meat
in their freezers.
For McCulloh and other producers who raise
the hogs that secure Iowa’s spot as the nation’s
top pork producer, the pandemic has been a
white-knuckled ride maneuvering the logistical
nightmares caused by packing plant closures
and slowdowns.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” he said.
The damage to Iowa’s hog industry this year
is estimated at $2.1 billion, according to an impact
analysis by Iowa State University’s Center
for Agricultural and Rural Development. The
Iowa Pork Producers Association said farmers
were losing an average of $37 per hog. That’s
on top of the negative impacts of trade wars for
the past two years,
At the end of May, Iowa’s meatpacking
plants were operating at only 80 percent of
capacity and livestock producers were facing
the difficult prospect of euthanizing animals,
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said
on May 29 when he announced $24 million in
aid for Iowa livestock producers who had to
dispose of animals.
One sign of hope is that by early July
packing plants nationally were at about 95%
of operational capacity, said Lee Schulz, an
economist and associate professor at Iowa State
University.
“Iowa is running near that national average.
When we look at parts of April and May, we
were running below that national average,” he
said.
“A big part in getting back up to capacity
this summer has been Saturday slaughter,”
Schulz said. Pre-pandemic, the packing industry
typically registered a 5.4-day work week,
“Everything is
driven for efficiency
because every week
you move hogs to
market. There’s a
trickle-down effect
across the board.”
— Chris Mcculloh
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eifarmer.com fall 2020 | Eastern Iowa Farmer 65