pork

Packages of beef cuts are displayed at a Costco store on May 24 in Novato, Calif. The prices of meats have surged, and the White House is partly blaming the handful of meatpackers that control the industry.

High Meat Prices Are Helping Fuel Inflation, And A Few Big Companies Are Being Blamed

9:58am September 14, 2021

by Scott Horsley

A larger White House campaign is targeting what it calls anti-competitive behavior in several industries, including meatpacking, in which over 80% of beef goes through just four companies.

Economy

As Rural Areas Lose Population, Job Pool For Agriculture Shrinks

7:38pm August 15, 2021

by Associated Press

Rural America lost more population in the latest census, highlighting an already severe worker shortage in the nation's farming and ranching regions and drawing calls from those industries for immi

Mike Santoro, (left) and Todd Coleman prepare for a day of Pork 'N Pine deliveries in South Baltimore.

National

In Baltimore, These Santa Clauses Bring Pork And Christmas Trees To Your Door

11:11am December 25, 2020

by Emily Sullivan

Pork 'N Pine owners Todd Coleman and Mike Santoro dress as Santa, load the trees on their bikes, pack a cooler full of pulled pork sandwiches and deliver this bit of joy to residents across the city.

Queue Listen Now

So far, fewer pigs than feared have had to be euthanized due to the coronavirus shutting down pork plants.

Farmers Find Ways To Save Millions Of Pigs From Being Euthanized

8:58am June 05, 2020

by Dan Charles

When COVID-19 infections forced pork companies to close processing plants, some farmers predicted that it would force them to euthanize millions of hogs. The actual number has been much lower.

Health & Safety

Another Pork Plant Shuts Down Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

1:22pm April 22, 2020

by Dan Charles

Tyson Foods is halting work at a processing site in Waterloo, Iowa, because people have tested positive for the virus. Other plants also have closed, cutting U.S. pork production by about a quarter.

Employees and family members protest outside a Smithfield Foods processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota last week. The plant has had an outbreak of coronavirus cases.

How One City Mayor Forced A Pork Giant To Close Its Virus-Stricken Plant

4:32pm April 14, 2020

by Dan Charles

Smithfield Foods didn't want to stop slaughtering hogs at its Sioux Falls pork plant, even after hundreds of workers got sick with the coronavirus. Then the city's mayor forced the company's hand.

A Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., that produces 4% to 5% of the nation's pork supply has become the latest meat processing facility to shut down as COVID-19 sickens plant workers.

U.S. Meat Supply Is 'Perilously Close' To A Shortage, CEO Warns

2:25pm April 13, 2020

by Jim Zarroli

A Smithfield Foods plant in South Dakota that produces 4% to 5% of the nation's pork supply has become the latest meat processing facility to shut down as COVID-19 sickens plant workers.

Ryan Childress (left), Dominion Energy's director of gas business development, and Kraig Westerbeek, an executive at pork producer Smithfield Foods, stand on a plastic-covered manure pond in North Carolina.

Big Companies Bet On Cleaner Power From Pig Poop Ponds

6:04pm November 22, 2019

by Dan Charles

Two large companies plan to capture natural gas from manure-filled ponds, turning it into clean, climate-saving energy. But some neighbors just want the ponds gone.

Queue Listen Now

Judge Rules No Punishing Smithfield Foods For Hog Complex

10:25am December 14, 2018

by Associated Press

Pigs in a pen in a village in Linquan County, China.

A Deadly Virus Threatens Millions Of Pigs In China

1:36pm September 13, 2018

by Rob Schmitz

In August, cases of African swine fever began cropping up. Can China bring it under control?

Queue Listen Now