Pork Powerhouses

Smithfield Foods has connected a natural gas transmission line from one of its hog farms in northern Missouri to the city of Milan’s natural gas pipeline.

"This is the most advanced pork facility in the entire world," says CEO Jere Null.

Wendell Murphy changed the pork industry forever when he brought contract feeding to the Midwest.

John Howard, 77, has built his family’s farming enterprises from humble beginnings in tobacco growing to becoming a powerhouse in pork production, row-crop farming, and more.

When 123-year-old Clemens Food Group partnered with 12 independent hog farmers to build a new packing plant in Michigan in 2017, a new era for pork processing was born.

Labor availability topped the list of challenges facing pig farmers in 2018.