When it comes to animal welfare policies and processes, count on us to lead the way. In fact, we're recognized by the world’s foremost experts in animal well-being as setting the standard for America's pork industry—and we're applying those same best practices to our global operations.
"Working with our customers, we are pleased to be taking this precedent-setting step. During our 70 years in business we have always been sensitive to the concerns and needs of our customers, and they have told us they feel group housing is a more animal-friendly form of sow housing."
C. Larry Pope
President and Chief Executive Officer
Smithfield Foods, Inc.
Landmark Gestation Stall Policy
Smithfield Foods and our hog production subsidiary Murphy-Brown have committed to phasing out individual gestation stalls for pregnant sows at all company-owned sow farms and are replacing them with group housing. We announced the program, known as "free access," in January 2007.
We based our decision on initial results from our own three-year study into sow housing to determine the impact such a switch would have on sows. Our research results showed that group housing arrangements work as well as gestation stalls in providing sows with proper care during their pregnancies. This landmark decision further evidences our commitment to industry leadership.