Lawmaker Seeks Protections For Small Pork Producers

US Representative Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.), said in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue that packer-owned hogs may be jumping the queue to meat packing plants ahead of hogs owned by independent pork producers.

“Packing-plant closures and disruptions have reduced production and created a backlog of market-ready hogs,” Hagedorn said in the letter. “This is expected to force the euthanization of up to 10 million animals, with the meat not processed and delivered to consumers.Making matters worse, it has come to my attention that packing plants may be engaging in discriminatory actions against independent family farmers by prioritizing the processing of packer-owned hogs.”