9 - Processing, Manufacturing & Utilities

On a typical day we'll cut 6000 hogs but other days we're cutting 4000 hogs yet our employees expect to put in their eight hours. Under the new contract, workers are guaranteed 32 hours a week. If they only work 25, we pay them for 32. Every day we have our cut number.

If we have fewer hogs, we'll slow down the cut and focus on quality. When we slow down a bit, we can see some yield improvements. Sometimes we're still done a couple of hours early, which is a challenge.