The National Pork Producers Council commended the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service for extending the New Swine Inspection System line speed trials through January 15, 2025. Processing facilities will enroll in a modified time-limited trial, which includes a study to evaluate the impact of increased line speeds on worker safety.

“We appreciate USDA and FSIS for listening to the pork industry and taking another step toward making increased line speeds permanent,” said NPPC President Scott Hays. “These actions give pork producers more certainty in an uncertain time.”

NPPC has advocated for increased line speeds since 2019, and in 2021, FSIS permitted increased line speeds at six pork packing plants while also gathering data to evaluate potential worker impacts. Industry economists say producers could have incurred an additional loss of almost $10 a head early this year without the increase in line speeds and the resulting decrease in processing capacity.