From the Minneapolis, MN Star Tribune:
For pork farmers, the emergency is now. For bacon lovers, it's coming soon
Nearly every day for two weeks, at least one sizable pork-processing plant shut down after the new coronavirus ripped through its workforce.
By the end of last week, plants that process about 25% of U.S. pork were closed.
Hog farmers raise pigs for nine to 10 months before sending them to market. Most schedule the growth of their hogs so they can send some at least weekly, sometimes more often.
From leaving a farm to arriving at a grocery store, the processing of a pig and distribution of resulting products takes two to three weeks. That means consumers in early May should see effects of the mid-April plant closings. Prices could rise and varieties and quantities of pork products could fall.
Steve Meyer, an economist at Kerns & Associates in Ames, Iowa, and a pork-industry specialist, said farm economics have never been so distorted.
The Chinese owe us so much for this disaster. I already have about 20 pounds of bacon in the freezer - maybe it is time to bump that up a bit.
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