Sixth US pork packer allowed to run faster lines

Apr 25, 2022

US Food Safety and Inspection Service grants Clemens Food Group the opportunity to trial a one-year run with faster line speeds to measure effects on line workers and machinery.

By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com; Image by GettyImages.

According to a report from the US National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), the USDA’s (US Department of Agriculture) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has approved Clemens Food Group, a pork packing production facility located within Coldwater, Michigan, to run faster line speeds.

Clemens Food Group is the sixth such pork packing facility in the US granted this uptick in processing.

This one-year trial program is part of a test by the FSIS to allow faster harvesting line speeds meant to both increase packing capacity as a means to alleviate supply chain issues.

The line speeds programs was first initiated in November of 2021 after a provision in USDA's 2019 New Swine Inspection System (NSIS) was denied by a U.S. District Court in March 2021.

Since then, nine pork packing plants have applied to the NSIS program, with six of them now (with Clemens) utilizing a faster line speed.

Each of the companies is expected to collect data referencing the effects a faster line speed has on its workers and machinery, to then share with the USDA and the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Once the data is compiled and a report written, it may be used to devise new regulations allowing processing plants to run at faster line speeds.

The NPPC is the entity that in 2021 wanted to get plants operating faster, and has indicated its agreement with the one-year program from the USDA.

Data backing up the initiation of faster line speeds was provided by Dermot Hayes, an economist with Iowa State University. He said that with six plants in the program, its impact on US pork harvest capacity will increase by 3.6 percent, which would increase hog prices by six percent after one year.

Video: What Does 20 MILLION Hogs a Year Look Like?

?? The Multi-Plant System Processing 20 Million Hogs Annually in the Midwest JBS USA operates multiple large-scale pork processing facilities across the Midwest, including major plants in Iowa, Minnesota, and Indiana. Combined, these facilities have the capacity to process approximately 20 million hogs annually.

Each plant operates high-speed automated slaughter systems capable of processing up to 20,000 head per day, followed by fabrication lines that break carcasses into primals, sub-primals, and case-ready retail products.

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Processing plants incorporate comprehensive food safety systems, including pathogen intervention technologies, rapid chilling processes, and integrated cold-chain management. USDA inspection is embedded throughout the harvest and fabrication stages to ensure regulatory compliance and product integrity. Finished pork products — from bulk primals to retail-ready packaged cuts — are distributed through coordinated logistics networks serving domestic and export markets.