Protein trend, piglet virus both impacting Tyson Foods' strategy

摘要

Calling the outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) in the United States the "disease du jour" executives with Tyson Foods, Inc. said heavier hogs coming to market will help the company get through the supply challenges that are expected to occur during the second half of the year. "We see every industry always has something that pops up on occasion," said Steve Stouffer, president of fresh meats for Tyson Foods, during the BMO Farm to Market Conference, held May 21. "This one here seems to be a lot more severe. There's been a lot of press about it here in the last six to eight months. Right now, our expectation is over the average of the industry to expect the number of head available to be down some-where between 4% and 5%. "Now, having said that, we also have to remember that because there is a gap in production the producers are able to retain those hogs in the system to get more weight on the animal. So we are seeing an offset on that per cent decline in number of head by heavier weights. And we are seeing some considerable weight increases within that industry.