Farms.com Home   Ag Industry News

Smithfield Moves Ahead, Asks Contracted Farmers to End Use of Gestation Stalls

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

Smithfield Foods, Inc., the world’s largest hog producer and pork processer, announced Tuesday that it is asking its pork suppliers to get rid of gestation stalls and convert to group housing for pregnant sows by 2022.

The company says it plans to provide incentives to encourage conversion, noting that contracted farmers who commit to convert to group housing will receive contract extensions after the conversion is completed.

"We recognize that these projects require a significant investment on the part of our growers," said Larry Pope, president and chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods.

It appears that Smithfield is following through on its commitments. In 2007 they began converting to group housing for all its company-owned U.S. farms. The company remains on track to complete its conversion to group housing by 2017.  Smithfield’s operations in Poland and Romania completed its conversions a number of years ago.

In a Jan. 7 press release, Smithfield said that its hog production subsidiary Murphy-Brown had transitioned 54 per cent of pregnant sows on its company-owned farms in the U.S. to group housing systems in 2013.

Last year, Smithfield was bought by China’s Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. The acquisition was the biggest Chinese purchase of a U.S. firm in history.
 


Trending Video

Sweetener Effects on Gut Health - Dr. Kwangwook Kim

Video: Sweetener Effects on Gut Health - Dr. Kwangwook Kim



In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Kwangwook Kim, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, discusses the use of non-nutritive sweeteners in nursery pig diets. He explains how sucralose and neotame influence feed intake, gut health, metabolism, and the frequency of diarrhea compared to antibiotics. The conversation highlights mechanisms beyond palatability, including hormone signaling and nutrient transport. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Receptors responsible for sweet taste are present not only in the mouth but also along the intestinal tract.”

Meet the guest: Dr. Kwangwook Kim / kwangwook-kim is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, specializing in swine nutrition and feed additives under disease challenge models. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from the University of California, Davis, where he focused on intestinal health and metabolic responses in pigs. His research evaluates alternatives to antibiotics, targeting gut health and performance in nursery pigs.