LUVERNE, MN – It has been a busy week for rendering plants picking up dead livestock being euthanized because of the pandemic. Dennis Klarenbeek owns D and J Rendering of Luverne, Minnesota. He says on his first stop Wednesday he picked up 4,800 hogs.
“I just picked up a load,” says Klarenbeek. “We’re running four trucks picking up hogs that were euthanized at four barns so we’re looking at around 4,800.”
Klarenbeek also runs a livestock hauling service besides his rendering business. He says he’d prefer not having to deal with animals that have had to be euthanized due to processing plant shutdowns.
“I would rather not be doing this. I think it’s a big waste,” he says. “I run livestock trucks too. All of our loads had been cancelled due to plants closing down. Now, we are being contacted by rendering plants asking if we would hook up to end dumps and start hauling off euthanized hogs.”
He says he’s been involved in the rendering and livestock hauling business for 35 years and has never seen anything like this. Klarenbeek says it’s critical to get those processing plants back up and running. He also says the rendering cost varies.
“They need to get the kill plants opened up and start processing,” he notes. “ I don’t think people realize what the cost of food is going to be down the road.”
Klarenbeek says he expects to be hauling dead livestock all week to the rendering plant.
