The JBS USA plant in Worthington, MN., currently inactive, will be opened this week to euthanize mature hogs according to House Agriculture Committee chairman Rep. Colin Peterson (D-MN). The plant with a daily capacity of 20,000 hogs believes it can kill 13,000 daily with a crew of ten. The backlog of hogs on all U.S. Farms is growing at a rate of 160,000 per day as a significant proportion of hog-packing capacity is closed. Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa has joined the National Pork Producers Council to request aid for hog farmers from Congress. The $1.6 billion from the USDA coronavirus allocation is obviously inadequate given the magnitude of the problem caused by plant closings.
Despite the Presidential Executive Order to reopen plants, now regarded as “critical infrastructure,” workers will still have to be available and willing to report for duty. The Executive Order requires that operators of plants adhere to CDC guidelines regarding COVID-19 
protection. Some workers have refused to return to plants based on perceptions of insecurity and susceptibility to infection. The Executive Order indemnifies plant owners from any claim resulting from COVID-19, and apparently negates both state and local decisions to close plants, irrespective of risk to workers and the community at large.
The legality of the order issued in terms of the Defense Production Act has yet to be challenged in court.
Representative Cindy Axne (D-IA) stated, “Iowa’s agriculture economy including its packing plants is critical to the state and to feeding the country and the world.” She added, “keeping them running during COVID-19 means we need to first and foremost keep our workers safe and healthy. Any requirement from an employer or from federal authorities for employees to keep 
coming 
to work needs to be accompanied by iron-clad answers on what protections will be in place including PPE, social distancing with routine testing and inspection.”
Marc Perrone of the United Food and Commercial Workers representing 250,000 employees in the meat industry stated, “While we share the concern over the food supply, today’s Executive Order to force meat packing plants to stay open must put the safety of our country’s meat packing workers first.” He added, “Simply put, we cannot have a secure food supply without the safety of these workers.”
The extent of infection in plants is illustrated by the Smithfield Foods, Sioux Falls, SD pork plant with 853 confirmed infections out of 3,700 employees. Due to the lack of additional antigen (virus) 
testing and the non-availability of serologic assays, the actual number of individuals infected and those that have recovered following asymptomatic infection is unknown. Reliable data is considered critical to making rational decisions on when plants can reopen and the effectiveness of preventive measures.