Farmer says his 61,000 chickens were euthanized as demand for eggs during pandemic drops

[babylonsister]

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/494027-farmer-says-his-61000-chickens-were-euthanized-as-demand-for?fbclid=IwAR37nsp3m2tcd4QuF6qHNbzlSa6o-C4r3meWQR-W8tyX7Vd-B3Aiiu0_O2k


Farmer says his 61,000 chickens were euthanized as demand for eggs during pandemic drops
By Zack Budryk - 04/21/20 08:36 PM EDT


A Minnesota contract egg farmer said 61,000 of his chickens were euthanized amid falling demand for eggs.

Closures of schools, restaurants and caterers has trickled down to farming, affecting egg producers as well as demand for milk and ripe lettuce. Kerry Mergen, who works near Albany Minn., told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that Daybreak Foods, which owned and paid to feed the chickens, made the decision after a fluid egg plant in Big Lake temporarily shut down last week and laid off 300 workers.

Mergen told the Star-Tribune a crew of about 15 workers arrived in the early hours of April 9 with carbon dioxide to euthanize the birds.

snip//

"It is important to note that food-service orders have not stopped, but with the decline in food-service orders, Cargill and its egg suppliers are working diligently to rebalance supply to match these consumer and customer shifts," Cargill said in a statement, according to the newspaper.

Mergen said four other egg farms saw chickens euthanized in the state in recent weeks, saying the other four were larger than his. An official at the state Board of Animal Health told the newspaper livestock producers are not required to report euthanizing animals in large numbers.

Mergen’s wife Barb, a food service worker in St. Cloud, said the income represented by the chickens would hurt more than the killings.

"Don't sugarcoat it. It is what it is," she told the Star-Tribune. "It's painless for the birds. I don't have a thing against that, but it's just that someone can come in so quickly and when they euthanized the birds, that was our paycheck euthanized."

The Hill has reached out to Daybreak for comment.

[pbmus]

1. Crazy shit, I can't find eggs in northern Illinois...

[questionseverything]

9. no one is making the needed changes

to distribution

[Jamastiene]

17. I am having a hard time finding any too.

Same with lots of other foods.

[oasis]

2. Too sad.

[Bad Thoughts]

3. They couldn't be bothered to change distribution channels,

so they killed 60,000 animals. Pricks.

[2naSalit]

6. +1

[Bayard]

4. What the hell?

How about a chicken in every pot? Why kill all these birds instead of feeding people with them? No tax write off?

[smirkymonkey]

5. Why? Couldn't they sell them?

There is still a market out there for eggs. People are complaining of food shortages and how the prices of eggs are out of control. What a waste!

[NCjack]

7. I can't get eggs! Thanks MFer#45.

[Ron Green]

8. Hyper-efficient, just-in-time supply chains are inherently fragile,

and scaled for financial markets rather than for human beings. If we go through this pandemic without changing such arrangements, we’ve failed as a species.

[lunasun]

10. +1

[Historic NY]

11. I'm eating more eggs than ever, even in cooking...

I've seen them at 99 cents . I can buy jumbos cheaper than large or brown eggs. The pandemic isn't as responsible as they are leading us to believe. Eggs have been cheap for some time. Designer eggs bring more money.....

The market by me keep restocking them and they go fairly fast.

[greenjar_01]

12. ROFL: Do farmers ever NOT lie about their shortfalls?

If this guy euthanized 60,000 chickens, I'm a Chinese grandfather of the prince of England.

Clown shit.

Whenever you hear some dipshit saying that people won't work if the unemployment check matches salary, it's actually a farmer who has spent his life on the dole after year upon year of lying about bad conditions for farming. I think that's what they teach in farmer cooperative extension programs: Conning the government while acting indignantly about government support.

Oh, a bunch of people 'bout to get all mad, but anyone who has lived in a rural area with these miscreants and lay-abouts knows I'm right.

[ecstatic]

13. They can't be donated to places with food shortages?

[MFM008]

14. Obviously people

Are eating toilet paper
And cleaning supplies......

[whistler162]

15. Versus... some dairy farmers

https://cnycentral.com/news/local/almost-8000-gallons-of-milk-to-be-given-away-at-destiny-usa-on-wednesday

"SYRACUSE, N.Y. — New York dairy organizations will be delivering two tractor-trailers carrying almost 8,000 gallons of milk to Destiny USA on Wednesday for a drive-thru giveaway for families in need.

The giveaway will be held at Destiny USA Mall in the East Side lot off Solar Street on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. while supplies last.

The event has been organized by the Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), a national cooperative owned by dairy farm families across the U.S., Dean Foods processing plants, and American Dairy Association North East."

[Jamastiene]

16. I would love some eggs right about now.

It must be an issue of getting them to customers, because my local grocery store has been having trouble keeping anything in stock. I'd love some eggs right about now.

I hope in the future we find a way around this kind of problem.