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Impacts Of Smithfield Closure

SDPB

In The Moment ... April 13, 2020 Show 794 Hour 2

Times are tough for hog producers in South Dakota, and this weekend, things got worse. Smithfield Foods, based in Virginia announced it is halting production at this port processing plant in Sioux Falls. The plant is closed until further notice. The announcement came over the weekend after Governor Kristi Noem and Mayor Paul TenHaken called for the closure of the Sioux Falls facility for 14 days. The plant employees around 3,700 employees and has become a cluster of COVID-19 infections. The South Dakota Department of Health reports that 293 of the 730 positive cases in the state are Smithfield employees. 
 
Smithfield has sounded the alarm for what the plant closure might do to the nation's protein supply chain. It also has a devastating impact on South Dakota producers. Joining us today with insight is Shane Odegaard of Odegaard Family Farms and Jim Petrick  from the Gayville, South Dakota area. 
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