Smithfield Foods Closing 35 Hog Farm Sites in Missouri
August 14, 2023 | 1 min to read
In Chicago, Smithfield Foods announced the permanent closure of 35 hog farm sites in Missouri and a layoff of 92 employees, per a WARN notice. The company’s division, Murphy-Brown LLC, is scaling back its operations due to ongoing challenges in the U.S. meat industry, including declining profits, reduced consumer demand from inflation, and rising feed and labor costs, which have hampered demand predictions.
CHICAGO – Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork processor, is permanently closing 35 hog farm sites in Missouri and laying off 92 employees in October, according to a Missouri Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice.
Murphy-Brown LLC, a division of Smithfield Foods, is “reducing its hog farming operations” across the state and “must reduce its workforce accordingly,” the company said in the notice, which affects salaried and hourly workers.
The U.S. meat industry has struggled with declining profits and reduced demand from consumers squeezed by inflation and higher interest rates. Amid spiraling feed and labor costs, meat companies have struggled to predict demand for their products.
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