Humane Society praises Smithfield decision promoting group housing for sows
January 07, 2014 | 11:21 PM
Smithfield Foods, Inc. and its hog production subsidiary, Murphy-Brown LLC, announced today that they are recommending sow growers join with the company in converting their facilities to group housing systems for pregnant sows, an action that was praised by The Humane Society of the United States.
Dennis Treacy
The company, which was purchased last year by the Chinese, said in a news release that it is asking contract sow growers to convert by 2022 with a sliding scale of incentives to accelerate that timetable. Growers who commit to convert to group housing will receive contract extensions upon completion of the conversion.
“More and more food companies are looking to suppliers to move toward group housing systems for pregnant sows,” said Dennis Treacy, executive vice president and chief sustainability officer of Smithfield Foods in the statement. “To date, more than 50 companies — many of them Smithfield customers — have announced that they will source pork in the future from suppliers utilizing group housing.”
C. Larry Pope
Treacy emphasized that although the conversion to group housing systems is being encouraged, it is not mandatory. If growers choose not to participate, their contracts with Murphy-Brown will remain unchanged, although extensions are less likely, he said.
C. Larry Pope, president and chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods, said he understands the company is asking contractors to make a “significant investment.”
“But a well-planned renovation to a group housing system will help maintain the farms’ value for years to come, while at the same time supporting our companywide commitment to animal care,” Pope said.
Wayne Pacelle
Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle, who has campaigned to end the use of gestation grates, praised the decision, saying “They’ll have eight years to make the conversion — a long time, to be certain, but a welcome path forward, with earlier conversion meaning better contracts.”
Pacelle noted that more than 60 of the world’s largest food retailers — including McDonald’s, Burger King, Safeway, Costco and Oscar Mayer — have said they will eliminate pork from sows in gestation crates from their supply chains and that nine states have banned their use.
He said that the decision shows that eliminating the lifelong confinement of sows is economically viable and that “Tyson Foods, Seaboard, and other major pork producers are increasingly out of step not only with the American public, but with their own industry and their customers.”
“One day, in the not too distant future, all people will regard the era of immobilizing sows in crates barely larger than their bodies as a sad chapter in the history of American agriculture,” Pacelle said.
“Many people, once the transition is complete, will wonder how industry leaders for so long defended this form of animal privation and daily misery and how lawmakers and others in positions of power didn’t do something about it sooner.”
At the same time, Smithfield Foods reported that Murphy-Brown had, through the end of 2013, transitioned 54 percent of pregnant sows on its company-owned farms in the United States to group housing systems.
Smithfield, the world’s largest pork production company, began converting to group housing for pregnant sows on all company-owned U.S. farms in 2007 and said today it remains on track to finish its conversion on all company-owned U.S. farms by 2017 and all facilities worldwide by 2022. Smithfield's hog production operations in Poland (AgriPlus) and Romania (Smithfield Ferme) completed their conversions to group housing facilities a number of years ago, the company said.
Dennis Treacy
The company, which was purchased last year by the Chinese, said in a news release that it is asking contract sow growers to convert by 2022 with a sliding scale of incentives to accelerate that timetable. Growers who commit to convert to group housing will receive contract extensions upon completion of the conversion.
“More and more food companies are looking to suppliers to move toward group housing systems for pregnant sows,” said Dennis Treacy, executive vice president and chief sustainability officer of Smithfield Foods in the statement. “To date, more than 50 companies — many of them Smithfield customers — have announced that they will source pork in the future from suppliers utilizing group housing.”
C. Larry Pope
Treacy emphasized that although the conversion to group housing systems is being encouraged, it is not mandatory. If growers choose not to participate, their contracts with Murphy-Brown will remain unchanged, although extensions are less likely, he said.
C. Larry Pope, president and chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods, said he understands the company is asking contractors to make a “significant investment.”
“But a well-planned renovation to a group housing system will help maintain the farms’ value for years to come, while at the same time supporting our companywide commitment to animal care,” Pope said.
Wayne Pacelle
Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle, who has campaigned to end the use of gestation grates, praised the decision, saying “They’ll have eight years to make the conversion — a long time, to be certain, but a welcome path forward, with earlier conversion meaning better contracts.”
Pacelle noted that more than 60 of the world’s largest food retailers — including McDonald’s, Burger King, Safeway, Costco and Oscar Mayer — have said they will eliminate pork from sows in gestation crates from their supply chains and that nine states have banned their use.
He said that the decision shows that eliminating the lifelong confinement of sows is economically viable and that “Tyson Foods, Seaboard, and other major pork producers are increasingly out of step not only with the American public, but with their own industry and their customers.”
“One day, in the not too distant future, all people will regard the era of immobilizing sows in crates barely larger than their bodies as a sad chapter in the history of American agriculture,” Pacelle said.
“Many people, once the transition is complete, will wonder how industry leaders for so long defended this form of animal privation and daily misery and how lawmakers and others in positions of power didn’t do something about it sooner.”
At the same time, Smithfield Foods reported that Murphy-Brown had, through the end of 2013, transitioned 54 percent of pregnant sows on its company-owned farms in the United States to group housing systems.
Smithfield, the world’s largest pork production company, began converting to group housing for pregnant sows on all company-owned U.S. farms in 2007 and said today it remains on track to finish its conversion on all company-owned U.S. farms by 2017 and all facilities worldwide by 2022. Smithfield's hog production operations in Poland (AgriPlus) and Romania (Smithfield Ferme) completed their conversions to group housing facilities a number of years ago, the company said.
