Hello everyone,
One big Delaware story late last week had trouble getting past Middletown.
47 ABC reported that Allen Harim will ask some growers to “depopulate” their chicken houses, while producing a letter it obtained.
In the flood of news over COVID-19, big news stories can get lost in the shuffle. A link to our story is in this newsletter.
The term depopulation reflects a grim reality in the poultry business of today. Chickens are grown to a certain size before being shipped off to the processing plant. Birds that get too large can’t be processed and are euthanized.
What about sending the birds to another processor? Unfortunately, all companies in the region are in the same boat.
Allen Harim’s two Sussex plants have seen more absences as attendance policies were relaxed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The result has been a reported drop in output.
Processors have been working to avoid coronavirus outbreaks with plexiglass shields and reconfigured work areas that have more social distancing. Relaxed attendance policies are the norm since initial symptoms of COVID-19 can be mild.
Nowadays, temperatures are taken when workers clock in as cleaning and sanitation requirements have been stepped up. None of this is new in the poultry industry, which has long dealt with avian flu at farms and working conditions at plants that can lead to the spread of respiratory diseases.
The price for not doing enough soon enough can be seen out in Sioux Falls, SD, where the 3,500-employee Smithfield pork plant has been shut down until further notice after nearly 300 workers tested positive for COVID-19.
The plant closing could lead to higher prices and strains on the nation’s food supply.
By contrast, few coronavirus cases have been reported at poultry plants in the region.
Stay safe and don’t let you or the family pet walk in the woods when winds kick up.
The National Weather Service says 60 and even 70-mile-an-hour winds could topple trees. Power outages are also possible and just now, we had a couple of flickers. So far, winds have not kicked up. It may be a different story to the south. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
