Slaughterhouses do not keep up: 750,000 pigs are still on hold

Slaughterhouses do not follow
750,000 pigs still on hold

Due to Corona, operations in slaughterhouses are currently only possible to a limited extent. In addition, mass outbreaks among workers repeatedly lead to a backlog of slaughter pigs. Lower Saxony's agriculture minister is now calling for a rethink.

According to Lower Saxony's Agriculture Minister Barbara Otte-Kinast, the so-called pig jam has not yet been overcome. In an interview with the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" she said: "We are now talking about around 750,000 pigs in the waiting loop across Germany." The situation in the stables has "not relaxed at all," said the CDU politician. As a result of the corona pandemic, fewer pigs are currently being slaughtered in slaughterhouses to protect against infection. In addition, several large companies had been closed at least temporarily after mass outbreaks among workers. This led to a backlog of slaughter pigs in agriculture.

Otte-Kinast pointed out the psychological strain on the farmers concerned: "The desperation is enormous." In addition, the so-called producer prices are "extremely low", so the farmers get very little money for their animals. The meat price had collapsed after the evidence of African swine fever in wild boars in East Germany. Important exporting countries such as China blocked German goods in response.

The Agriculture Minister called for the current crisis to be used as an opportunity to rethink agriculture: "Is it really the job of agriculture to feed the whole world?" She asked. It must be considered whether a lot more regional value chains should not be strengthened. The farmer from Lower Saxony should not be financially dependent on the Asian market. "I think we have to change that."

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