Document type : News item published in the Veterinary Record 187:467
Author: Josh Loeb
Preview: The shutdown of some abattoir cold stores due to the Covid-19 outbreak has had serious knock-on consequences for pig farms.Some are becoming so overstocked that it may be necessary to cull pigs on farm.Jim Morris, vice president of the Pig Veterinary Society (PVS), gave the warning at the BVA's most recent council meeting on 9 December.He said some farms are now under so much pressure because of overstocking that relatively large scale on-farm slaughter of pigs could soon become a necessity.Vet Record understands that several cold stores have been unable to continue operating as normal due to suspected outbreaks of Covid-19 requiring staff to self isolate.Without cold store facilities in which to house carcases, the normal numbers of pigs cannot be slaughtered and farms have been required to hold their livestock for longer. Morris told fellow council members: 'As part of Red Tractor, they have contingency plans for this. However, those contingency plans are getting almost filled up. In some cases they are filled up, which is going to mean they [the farms] start having problems with overstocking.
