Smithfield Foods is progressing with its plans to transition pregnant sows on all company-owned farms in the United States to group housing systems by 2017. The company on January 4 reported it transitioned 81.8 percent by the end of 2015, a 10 percent increase over 2014.
In the United States, Smithfield expects to be fully converted on company-owned farms by 2017, as planned.
With the progress made to date, at the outset of 2016, more than eight out of every ten pregnant sows on company-owned farms in the U.S. are within group housing systems.
"At Smithfield Foods, we are committed to keeping animals safe, comfortable and healthy," said Ken Sullivan, Smithfield Foods president and CEO. "As the world's largest pork producer, we have a responsibility to be a leader in animal care, and we view our conversion of the pregnant sow housing system as a key component of our dedication to this goal."
In addition to efforts at its company-owned farms, Smithfield Foods previously announced that the company expects all U.S. contract growers to complete a transition to group housing by 2022. To support its partners, Smithfield Foods offers guidance and expertise to contract growers throughout the conversion process.
Smithfield's international hog production operations also have a goal of converting to group housing systems on all company-owned farms by 2022, including in Mexico. Smithfield's hog production operations in Poland (AgriPlus) and Romania (Smithfield Ferme) fully converted to group housing facilities on company-owned farms a number of years ago.
"Smithfield has a robust animal care management program that guides the care animals receive at every stage of their lives. This not only supports our goals for improving the health and well-being of animals, but also provides consumers with the safest food possible," said Stewart Leeth, Smithfield Food's vice president and chief sustainability officer. "Our commitment to the transition to group housing for pregnant sows goes hand-in-hand with other pledges, such as our removal of ractopamine from feed for all company-owned animals supplied to our processing facilities, and other steps that have placed us at the forefront of the hog production industry in the United States."
Andrea Gantz
Cargill has completed its transition to group sow housing at company-owned facilities.
Cargill Pork, one of the largest pork producers in the U.S., is 11 months ahead of its own schedule for completing the conversion to group housing for sows at company-owned farms. In June 2014, Cargill Pork announced a commitment to group housing of sows at company-owned farms, with the original completion date set for December 31, 2015.
“We are pleased to achieve 100 percent group housing at Cargill Pork farms nearly one year ahead of schedule,” said Mike Luker, president of Cargill Meat Solutions’ pork business. “This is a significant investment in the future of our pork business, and one we made as the result of listening to the marketplace in recent years.”
For a number of years, Cargill’s U.S. pork operation had maintained 50 percent group housing for company-owned sows at farms owned by Cargill Pork. Its 2011 acquisition of an idled hog farm complex in the Texas Panhandle helped the company achieve 100 percent group housing for its gestating sows at company-owned farms.
Since the Texas site was acquired, Cargill Pork has invested more than $60 million in the purchase and improvement of the 22,000-acre property near Dalhart, Texas, including the conversion of sow barns to contain group housing. Cargill Pork’s Dalhart facility employs more than 300 people, including a team trained to care for the animals at the site.
"In recent years, many of our customers have made commitments related to the pork they will buy in the future, and we intend to meet those needs,” stated Luker. “We’ve been a pioneer in the use of group housing for gestating sows dating back more than a decade, and recently there has been growing public interest in the welfare related to animals raised for food. Group housing and individual housing for gestating sows both have benefits and challenges. Although a large-scale change to group housing takes time and is costly, we believe it is the right thing to do for the long term future of our pork production in the U.S., and our customers agree with us and support our decision. However, we are always mindful about the many family farms raising hogs that have livelihoods invested in their operations and it will require patience and resources, should they choose to move to group housing.”
The target for conversion to group housing at contract farms containing Cargill Pork sows remains December 31, 2017. Hogs produced by Cargill Pork-owned sows represent approximately 30 percent of the total animals harvested each year at Cargill’s two pork processing facilities.
