Kent Bang and Steve Malakowsky normally write Compeer Financial's monthly columns for National Hog Farmer, but I asked if I could take their spot this month. They are doing their best to work with each of our clients during these times of uncertainty.

First of all, there probably isn't a day, or in fact an hour, that goes by I don't think of you and the swine industry. There are very difficult decisions you are all making about your operation that you never thought you would ever have to make. We are doing our best to listen and provide feedback for each of you on a case-by-case situation.

This gets to my headline — we just want to know. Whether you are a wean pig producer, a farrow-to-finish operation, contract grower, a processing plant, or an employee at a processing plant — we all want answers. You want certainty on when we get back to normal, or what the new normal will be. I will be candid; I don't believe we will know for some time on either of those two points. This uncertainty creates more frustration by the day. If you are a producer, this uncertainty is the reality that even 60 days ago never crossed your mind. You never thought you would have to depopulate your operation and you would not be able to have a spot to have your pigs to be harvested. This happened for a short period of time in 1998.

Compeer had a webinar and Kent Bang had a slide that really captures many of the discussions we have been having with everyone in the industry. This has to do with how long will it take for us get back to normal harvest capacity, and our hope is we get back to 90% capacity.

We have run multiple scenarios where we are at 90%, 80% or even 70% of capacity. By the end of this week as I write this, which would be May 15, we are behind over 2.5 million head since the beginning of April. It has been good to see processing numbers moving up the last couple of days. With cutout at over $110, this gives packers incentive to do everything possible to run. But the other factor has been harvest weights which reached over 295 pounds last week. These are real numbers and are a harsh reality for any producer who has pigs being backed up on their operation.

This goes back to the headline — we want to know! The level of frustration from all producers is understandable. But there is also a harsh reality to face. Pigs unfortunately will need to be euthanized, and the industry will need to downsize. Here are some key points everyone needs to consider about your operation.

There are two other points that I want to know if I am a producer.

There will be a pork industry once we get through this pandemic. There is a quote that I saw that rings true more than ever. "If you desire to be a person of hope, a person that has the will that what is good might be reality, you must be a person of two things: meaning and action." I encourage all of you to put meaning and action behind your operation. The clock is ticking.

Source: Mark Greenwood, who is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset. The opinions of this writer are not necessarily those of Farm Progress/Informa.