Source: Dani Friedland, MEATINGPLACE, 12/8/11

Smithfield Foods is on track to meet its 2011 goal for converting sows to group housing from individual gestation stalls, Smithfield President and CEO C. Larry Pope announced on the company’s corporate social responsibility website.

By the end of the year, Smithfield will have completed conversions for 30 percent of its sows, its target for 2011, following progress from production subsidiary Murphy-Brown LLC.

“We will continue the conversion as planned with the goal of completing conversion for all sows on company farms by the end of 2017, and today we are on course to achieve that goal,” Pope said. “While we initially had concerns during the recession about whether we could meet the 2017 goal, we are now back and track and barring unforeseen circumstances beyond our control we are confident that we will achieve our stated goal.”

The Humane Society of the United States praised the news. “Smithfield’s recommitment is an important and welcome move. With the company back on track with its phase-out, we’re getting closer to the day when the cruel confinement of pigs in gestation crates will be a bygone era for the entire hog industry,” HSUS President and CEO Wayne Pacelle said in a statement. “We recognize Smithfield’s recommitment as progress and urge its competitors such as Tyson, Hormel, Triumph, Prestage, Seaboard, and others to stop lagging behind and follow suit by adopting similar policies.”

HSUS and its supporters were vocal about the issue during a recent Smithfield Twitter chat connected with the launch of SmithfieldCommitments.com. Tweets urging Smithfield to discontinue the stalls’ use making up more than half of all tweets sent as part of the chat.

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