Why Numerous Employees Were Fired from a Major Iowa Hog Dealer

If you've been in Iowa long enough, you've unquestionably heard of Lynch Livestock. Based in Waucoma, the company is a major player in hogs not only in Iowa but worldwide. The company has been twice sanctioned for defrauding pork producers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars according to an ABC News story.

Under the microscope of officials, Lynch Livestock now claims it has fired the employees responsible for these latest violations. They also say they have paid restitution to affected sellers.

Lynch announced terminations in a press release

The company put out a press release on its website admitting that, "some pork producers received artificially low payments for their hogs." The company goes on in the release to say the USDA received a complaint in January about its employees at the Waucoma buying station manipulating the scale to fraudulently make lower payments to pork producers.

The company said it has paid a civil penalty and restitution, totaling $445,626. In the press release, the company says it has already distributed the monies to pork producers who were underpaid for their hogs after the investigation and subsequent fine. The company has also hired veteran pork industry leader Dan Sutherland to lead the company.

The owner of Lynch Livestock, Gary Lynch, said of Sutherland in the press release,

Dan Sutherland has a long history in the industry and deep experience in matters of compliance.

Gary Lynch is a major booster of Iowa State athletics.

Major meatpackers are under a federal microscope

Recently, the issue of fair compensation in the beef industry has become a major political issue in Washington, D.C. with representatives from meat giants such as Tyson Foods Inc. and JBS coming under scrutiny.