More recession fallout for Pilgrim’s Pride

Goodbye to robots and hello (again) to human workers. Management for JBS SA, the Brazilian meat packing company that took over Pilgrim’s Pride, the financially strapped poultry processing company in the United States, figures it could recover US$100 million in lost meat every year by ditching its automated deboning lines and replacing robots with real people. According to a report from Brazilian newspaper Brasil Economico, the company feels that the robots are leaving valuable meat on the bones. Automation used to be economical because semi-skilled workers were in short supply before the recession.

Better Farming - January 2012