Farmers Warned To Prepare To Hold Stock As Covid-19 Impacts South Canterbury’s Two Major Meatworks
South Canterbury’s two major meat processing plants have taken a hit with labour shortages and now the spread of Covid adding to production capacity issues, and farmers are being warned to prepare to hold on to stock for longer.
On Tuesday, 129 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in South Canterbury, bringing the total number of cases, in the latest outbreak, to 644. Of those, 542 are active.
Alliance Group general manager manufacturing Willie Wiese said the communities where they operate their plants are “clearly being impacted by Covid-19”.
“We have good practices in place to minimise the risk of having any Covid-positive people on any of our sites – this includes a rapid antigen testing programme amongst others,” Wiese said.
“Obviously, there is an impact on plant configurations and capacity, including at Smithfield.
“We are running our co-operative according to strict guidelines including physical distancing, shift ‘bubbles’, temperature checking, rapid antigen testing and engaging with government and health authorities. The protocols we have in place are about ensuring we operate our plants safely.”
Wiese said they were also continuing to deal with labour shortage issues and had put initiatives in place, including a staff referral payment and an increased minimum hourly rate, to try and address these.
“But the reality is with low unemployment and borders only just re-opening, the labour market is tight.
“We are continually communicating with our farmers. While we can expect some disruption to processing over the coming weeks, we have been planning for this situation for some time and are implementing a range of initiatives to lessen the impact.
“We are moving livestock across our network to process our farmers’ animals as quickly as possible and manage animal welfare risks.”
Willie Wiese said with low unemployment and borders only just re-opening, the labour market is tight.
Alliance Smithfield meatworks is pictured. (File photo) JOHN BISSET/STUFF
Willie Wiese said with low unemployment and borders only just re-opening, the labour market is tight. Alliance Smithfield meatworks is pictured. (File photo) He said they have also been encouraging their farmers to be prepared to hold livestock for longer, given the situation. “We remain proud of the way our people are responding, looking after each other and looking after farmers,” he said. Silver Fern Farms spokesperson Bill de la Mare said the recent outbreak had also had an impact on production capacity at the Pareora plant. “It’s not unexpected that Covid-19 will impact some of the communities in which our sites operate. “However, our network of processing facilities does provide us the option to move animals between plants, depending on local conditions
“Our focus will be moving animals off farm, and our priority will be addressing any areas of potential animal welfare risk and supporting our fully shared and valued suppliers.”
He said they have a range of protocols and procedures in place which ensure the processing sites continue operating safely.
“We have always taken a precautionary approach to our operations irrespective of the alert level.
“We have stringent health and safety protocols and procedures to keep our sites safe for our people, including using Rapid Antigen Testing at all our sites, and extensive use of PPE, physical distancing and temperature testing.
“We are working closely with the Government and with local health authorities.”
He said employee numbers at the plant vary, depending on the year and time of season, but at full capacity in peak season they average between 850 and 900 staff at Pareora.
SOURCE: STUFF
