A trucker’s strike taking place in Brazil may force the country’s poultry industry to cull 24 million birds a day, if farmers are unable to get feed. The country’s agriculture minister also warned that the government may need to bail out the hardest-hit producers, reports Reuters.

The world’s top chicken exporter could see a collapse in the poultry sector if the 1.2 million birds that are key to breeding are culled, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said on Wednesday. It could take the industry over two years to recover if that happens, he said.

“If we lose those birds, we lose all ability to recover,” he told reporters, in remarks translated from Portuguese. “I am very concerned about the livestock sector.”

Truckers have been on strike over high fuel prices, and food and fuel availability have been affected, as well as soy exports.

Source: Reuters