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Eden Valley Poultry Inc, located in Berwick, NS closed on December 9th for a two week period. This action was taken as a result of an increase in COVID-19 incidence among the 450 workers in the plant. It is intended to undertake deep cleaning of the plant during the downtime. It is however generally accepted that COVID-19 is essentially an airborne infection with respect to meatpacking and processing facilities.
Closing the plant has created a problem for growers with flocks scheduled to be depleted during the two weeks preceding Christmas. In the event of insufficient space, euthanization of flocks may be necessary with chicks taking precedence over mature broilers. Dietary manipulation may reduce growth rate, although possibly at the expense of fat deposition. Any delay in processing incurs additional costs for growers and welfare conditions deteriorate with increasing biomass. Higher downgrades can also be expected.
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Empty Shackles at Eden Valley Plant
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 At the present time, growers will find difficulty in locating alternative plants to Eden Valley. A potential approach may be to test workers and run the plant with non-affected employees before the two-week period has expired albeit at a slower line speed.
The latest reports as of December 22nd confirm resumption of operations at the plant.
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