Farmers are being forced to shoot and gas thousands of animals a day, devastating their business amid meat shortages

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For farmers in Iowa, Minnesota, and other Midwestern states, they have had little choice but to euthanize the backlog of animals, which means gassing or shooting thousands of pigs in a day, according to The New York Times.

The financial and emotional repercussions on the farmers are profound. Some farmers lose as much as $390,000 in a day, said the report. So far 90,000 pigs have been killed in Minnesota alone.

The pigs these farmers raise grow up to 300 pounds for commercial meatpacking but if they grow much bigger they become too dangerous for slaughterhouses, according to the Times. That's why farmers are trying to pare down their pig's diet and sell smaller pigs to local butchers and hunters.