ABERDEEN, S.D. (By Elisa Sand esand@aberdeennews.com) – Area farmers have joined forces to process several thousand pounds of pork for a meat giveaway Friday afternoon.

Distribution begins at 3 p.m. in the former ShopKo parking lot, 500 N. U.S. Highway 281, said Blair Andrews of AgriSwine Nutrition and AgriSwine Alliance, one of the event sponsors.

Several area pork producers contributed meat for the event, she said, including Mitch Truebenbach of AgriSwine Alliance in Aberdeen, Jerome Mack of Mack Farms in Leola and several area Hutterite colonies. The colonies include Spring Creek, Thunderbird, Hutterville, Claremont and Sunset.

Andrews said an estimated 12,000 to 13,000 pounds of meat were processed and will be distributed in boxes, each with about 15 to 20 pound of meat.

Boxes will be available to anyone on a first-come, first-serve basis. Residents are asked to enter in the northwest corner of the parking lot and stay in their vehicles. The meat will be taken to vehicles.

“Mitch wanted to say we’re here for you and doing what we can do to help out,” Andrews said.

The meat was processed by South Dakota State University with assistance from the South Dakota Pork Producers.

Andrews said this is the first of multiple events planned throughout the state in an effort to process hogs that weren’t able to be sent to the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls when it was closed because of a COVID-19 outbreak.

(visit www.aberdeennews.com)