Smithfield Foods Inc. is shutting down 37 sow barns in Missouri because the hog production business is losing money.
It has given notice to staff that the shutdowns will begin May 1.
Smithfield has 132 farms it owns in Missouri and has contracts with 109 others.
It has a hog-slaughter plant at Milan, Missouri.
Smithfield is part of WH Group of China which is the world’s largest pork producer and packer. Smithfield is the largest in North America.
