The company employs 170 people and also works with 101 farms in North Carolina and Indiana to raise hogs, reports The Fayetteville Observer. It was listed as the 22nd largest hog-producing company in the country by Successful Farming magazine.
In the bankruptcy document, the company stated that it lost $13.3 million in 2008 and has lost $17 million so far in 2009. It blames high feed costs, combined with the drop in demand for pork after the H1N1 scare, which was initially mis-named as “swine flu.” The company has more than 450 creditors with about $50 million in secured debts and $8 to $10 million in unsecured debts. Coharie farmers had complained last month that they hadn’t been getting paid.