COVID-19 Causes Closure Of Iowa Pork Plant

Apr 09, 2020

Tyson Foods announced this week that it was stopping processing at an Iowa pork plant, due to a number of employees testing positive for COVID-19.

The plant processes over 10,000 hogs per day.

Tyler Fulton with Hams Marketing Services says this will have a major impact on the broader industry.

"We're not at our seasonal peak and so that's probably saving us a little bit but it's very concerning when a plant goes down, because what happens is, all of those hogs that would normally go into that plant have to be routed elsewhere. It causes logistical nightmares in several different areas, not to mention the possibility of some animal health concerns."

Fulton notes a closure like this will have a negative impact on the entire value chain.

He adds over the past couple of weeks, hog futures and forward contracts have dropped about a third of their value.

Cash markets have dropped more than 10 per cent over the past week.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.