Smithfield global hog production operations moving toward complete conversion to group housing
Smithfield Foods Inc. announced that at the end of 2012 it had successfully transitioned 38% of pregnant sows on its company-owned farms in the United States from individual gestation stalls to group housing systems.
In the latest update, the company reported that it remains on track to finish its conversion to group housing on all company-owned farms in the U.S. by 2017. In 2007, Smithfield made a business decision to convert to group housing for pregnant sows on all company-owned U.S. farms based on input from its customers.