The Coronavirus Leads To Too Much Pork And, Not Enough Space

Illinois pig farmer struggles with a declining pork industry as the coronavirus sweeps the nation.

Keith Morby's Finishing Barn

Imagine the responsibility of taking care of the well being of 60,000 pigs and overseeing 10 finishing barns a year, all the while dealing with the difficulties of a worldwide pandemic. An Illinois pig farmer is experiencing just that.

Keith Morby is a pig farmer in Aledo, Illinois. Morby oversees various pig farms for different family farms as well as having two of his own. His responsibility is to go to each of the barns and make sure all the pigs have their vaccinations and the proper amount of feed. “I go in every day to make sure the pigs have the healthiest environment to grow.” Morby enters each barn once a day but multiple times to make sure all of the operations are running smoothly. Due to trying not to contaminate the different barns, Morby takes at least six showers a day.

Along with the normal day-to-day duties of being a pig farmer, the coronavirus has caused a massive halt in the production of pork. Morby explained that there is an abundance of healthy pigs in the United States, which would normally be great for pork production. The virus, however, has made the abundance of pigs a negative. Several meatpacking plants have had to close down due to the break out of the coronavirus in the plants. The closing of plants has left pig farmers with nowhere to send their market-ready pigs. Morby said, fortunately, the plant he sells to is accepting half of his pigs that he would sell a week.

Morby as a young boy with one of his pigs.

Other pig farmers have not been so fortunate. A recent report by Fox News stated that pig farmers in Des Moines, Iowa have thought about euthanizing their pigs, so they will not lose a profit. Since the plants are closing there is nowhere for the market-ready pigs to go which means pork production becomes backed up because they can not restock the barns with baby pigs. In response to the question, if Morby would have to euthanize his pigs, he replied, “First of all no one wants to euthanize their pigs, it’s always a last resort.” Morby explained that a solution would be if farmers could empty a barn that they could overstock with baby pigs. “It is not an ideal situation, but it is better than killing them.” According to a report by ABC News, around 700,000 pigs will be euthanized a week due to this outbreak. Morby and the farms he oversees have no plans to euthanize any pigs at this time.

What does the impact of the virus mean for the future of the pork industry? Morby fears that it will lead to small family farms going broke because they are not making any money off of selling their pigs. Family farms going broke, Morby states, would lead to pig farms becoming controlled by major companies.

Morby believes the best way for the government to help pig farmers is through widespread coronavirus testing. The government providing widespread testing would allow for the meatpacking plant to be able to determine who is sick and who are not, he went on to reveal. As a result of widespread testing, Morby says that “plants would be able to open back up, so they can start taking in more pigs and farmers’ lives would begin to go back to normal.”

Morby's children, Lauren and Brad, helping their dad in 2009.