Minnesota Firm Collects Most Of The Funds From Hog Kill Program

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Minnesota pork company has received the vast majority of payments from an Iowa program designed to support farmers who euthanized their hogs after the coronavirus devastated their industry.

Newly released data shows that Christensen Farms has received $1.86 million from the Iowa Disposal Assistance Program. That's 72% of the $2.6 million the program has paid to date. Christensen Farms is one of the nation’s largest family-owned pork producers, The Sleepy Eye, Minnesota-based company has received reimbursement payments for disposing of 46,599 euthanized hogs. That works out to about $40 per pig.

The 15 other companies and farmers who have received payments reported euthanizing about 18,000 hogs combined.