As the pandemic disrupts supply chains, Nebraska farmers feel the pain

UNADILLA — With meat packing plants closing because of the coronavirus and food supply chains disrupted around the world, farmers across Nebraska like Jim Bartling are feeling the pain.

“The problem with being a hog farmer is that I just can’t shut the door and lock it like store owners,” Bartling said. “This is a wound and there is no way to stop the bleeding.”

There’s nowhere for farmers like Bartling to sell their animals, so there’s no money coming in while the cost of care and feeding keeps mounting.

“It is only going to get worse if things keep going the way they are going,” he said.

Some farmers have already euthanized some pigs because they can’t sell them and can’t afford to keep feeding them because of mounting debts.

Walking back toward his home after making rounds on his hog farm, Bartling said he could see problems coming when the virus was contained only to China. 

“If what was happening was enough to make them shut down so much I knew it was coming our way,” he said.