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Smithfield Foods responded to misinformation asserted by some media about the company’s actions during the COVID-19 pandemic and opened up about the hard decisions they have made during this crisis.

USDA's APHIS is establishing a National Incident Coordination Center to provide direct support to producers whose animals cannot move to market as a result of processing plant closures due to COVID-19.

Cash-traded weaner pig volume was below average this week with 37,134 head being reported which is 72% of the 52-week average. Cash prices were $3.97, down $1.63 from a week ago.

How does herd immunity in pigs apply to COVID-19? Some veterinarians say it has everything to do with this current pandemic situation.

Smithfield Foods Inc, the world's largest pork processor, has been accused in a lawsuit of failing to adequately protect workers at a Missouri plant.

Smithfield Foods, Inc. will proactively suspend operations at its Monmouth, Ill., pork processing facility on April 27 and until further notice after a small number of its 1,700 employees tested positive for COVID-19.

As more packing plants shut down, and consumers fear a shortage of protein at their grocery store, COVID-19 is causing a rush for demand for locally raised beef and pork.

U.S. pork producers, in dire straits as a result of COVID-19 and facing a collective $5 billion loss, are now being denied access the SBA Payroll Protection Program due to restrictive language, the NPPC says.

The Indiana Packers Corporation will temporarily suspend operations at its pork processing facility in Delphi, Ind., until further notice on April 27. It is the second pork plant in Indiana to shutter due to COVID-19 .

Unless immediate changes are made, America's food processing and meatpacking workers are in danger—and so is America's food supply, UFCW International president says.

Farmers are wired to step up, especially in times of crisis. It’s no wonder that in caring for their communities, their families, animals and their land, that farmers can neglect themselves a little in the process.

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a $484 billion coronavirus relief bill on Thursday,

In an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus in meat packing plants, Kansas authorities are considering making housing at junior colleges and other facilities available to packing plant employees.

Photojournalist Russ Hnatusko introduces us to both a butcher and a family business in LaPorte County, Indiana working hard to keep up with demand.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report recommending Smithfield Foods make changes at its Sioux Falls, S.D., pork processing plant, which has been shut down since April 12 due to COVID-19.

Plunging sales and plant closures are all creating a crisis right now for the pork industry. Hogs are stacking up on farms with farmers scrambling to find places to process them as the value per hog plummets.

The cats, which are from separate households, have mild symptoms and appear to have caught the illness from their owners.

The top 40 sow owners in the U.S. will each lose more than $18 million due to the COVID-19 pandemic, projects Dermot Hayes, an economist with Iowa State University. 

On today's Farm Journal Live, a look at new plans to keep Kansas packing plants open and a conversation with Feeding America about the challenge of keeping America's food banks stocked.

Amy Asmus with Asmus Farm Supply, Harold Cooper of Premier Ag, and Henry Holloway of The Mill share their experience and takeaways from helping farmers get off to a strong start in 2020.

Farm Journal Economist Chip Flory and John Nalivka of Sterling Marketing looked at how producers are managing throughput throughout the chain on Wednesday’s Farm Journal Live newscast.

Engaging Educational Materials Help K-12 Students Develop FCS and environmental science skills.

As the first virtual shows dance their way across social media feeds in the livestock world, more and more people are thinking about trying out one of these new experiences.

Although no experience can match what it feels like to step into the show ring, exhibitors of The American say their first virtual hog show was one they’ll never forget. 

The coronavirus outbreak has forced slowdowns and temporary closures of meat packing plants across the country. This interactive map will be updated as information becomes available.

Plants which have closed are trying to reroute loads. The industry says many plants were already at capacity, which created a larger problem. Some producers share their stories.

China's pork supply will be under pressure in the second quarter and prices may peak around September due to the impact of the African swine fever.

African swine fever continues its deadly spread in China. Agriculture ministry officials said on Tuesday that ASF was detected in pigs transported to the southwestern province of Sichuan.

DeRouchey says plant closings have put a time crunch on industry.

The Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa, is reopening on Tuesday with limited operations.

Hormel Foods has temporarily closed two subsidiary manufacturing plants, one in Rochelle, Ill., and the other in Alma, Kan., because of cases of COVID-19 tied to employees at the plants.

COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and business closures have left many Iowa workers jobless, and food banks in the state are scrambling to keep up with a surge in demand. Iowa pork producers are stepping up to help. 

When Matt Wheeler got the call on a Sunday in March – just two days after Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued his first stay-at-home order – he wasn’t expecting to launch an experiment that could save countless lives.

The number of processing plants closing temporarily or reporting cases of COVID-19 across the U.S. continues to climb. On Friday, 19 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed at the JBS pork plant in Worthington, Minn. 

USDA has announced a $19 billion program to provide direct payments to farmers and bulk food purchases for food banks.

The industry can have all the rules or standard operating procedures in the world, but keeping farms protected comes down to human behavior and the decisions farm owners and employees make every day.

Discouraging news continues for pork producers as temporary closures of packing plants and rising absenteeism due to COVID-19 exacerbates an existing harvest capacity challenge. Here’s the latest from across the U.S.

Ag. Secretary Sonny Perdue talks with Farm Journal Editor and AgDay Host Clinton Griffiths about the nation’s food supply and efforts to stop the spread of the virus at these plants.

Don’t wait until you’re sick to do these three things that will support your immunity.

An employee at Seaboard Triumph Foods’ (STF) pork processing plant in Sioux City, Iowa, tested positive for COVID-19, the company said on Thursday. 

China's pork output dropped for a sixth straight quarter, as the world's top producer continued to reel from the impact of the African swine fever disease that decimated its hog herd.

All sectors of agriculture, including produce, specialty crops and horticulture, will be included in a $16 billion direct payment plan to be submitted to the White House this week by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue.

Out of an abundance of caution the 21st Century Strategic Forums team has made the decision to move the annual conference from July 12-15 to August 16-19, 2020. The conference location will remain the same.

Two employees of a Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa, have died, presumably from the effects of COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Thursday to help with the largest coronavirus hot spot in the U.S.

Smithfield Foods has shuttered two more U.S. plants that process pork, including a plant that processes bacon and sausage in Cudahy, Wisc., and a facility in Martin City, Mo., that processes spiral and smoked hams.

There are promotions at Animal Agriculture Alliance and Zinpro, while Elanco has a new partnership in telemedicine platform.

he Trump administration plans to buy milk and meat from U.S. farmers as part of an initial $15.5 billion effort to help them weather the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Stu Heller has been promoting biosecurity before it was even a word. In the late 1980s, to say people weren’t fully bought into the concept of sanitation (or cleaning and disinfection) is an understatement, he says.

With four loads scheduled to head to Smithfield’s pork processing plant in Sioux Falls this week, South Dakota pork producer Steve Rommereim says he’s facing a barn full of pigs with nowhere to go.