Smithfield Foods will pay restaurants and caterers $42 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the giant meat producer of conspiring to inflate pork prices.
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Meat-packing giant Smithfield Foods says it will close its only California plant next year, citing the escalating cost of doing business in the state. The Farmer John meat-packing plant in an industrial suburb south of Los Angeles is expected to shut in February. Its 1,800 workers will get severance pay, and some will have the option of relocating to other facilities owned by the Virginia-based Smithfield Foods Inc. A Smithfield executive says the costs of taxes, water and other utilities are much higher in California than elsewhere. Some operations will be moved to the Midwest.
Agriculture
Meatpacking giant JBS has agreed to a $52.5 million settlement in a beef price-fixing lawsuit that some say supports their concerns about how the lack of competition in the industry affects prices
Construction begins this week, with plans to have it up and running by the end of 2022. It will employ 22 people, including management and operations.
Agriculture
Officials said the grants are meant to defray some of the costs workers bore as many of them bought their own protective equipment or took unpaid leave.
Agriculture
Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms agreed to the settlements last week without admitting any wrongdoing while the lawsuit remains pending against several other industry giants, including Pilgrim’s Pride, Koch Foods and Sanderson Farms.
Census data showed that population gains in many rural areas were driven by increases in Hispanic and Latino residents, many of whom come as immigrants to work on farms or in meatpacking plants.
The contamination was discovered when FSIS collected a routine product sample that confirmed positive for the presence of E. coli, officials said.
The Biden administration plans to issue a new rule to protect the rights of farmers who raise cows, chickens and hogs against the country's largest meat processors as part of a plan to encourage more competition in the agriculture sector.
The Washington-based North American Meat Institute, a trade group for the meat processing industry, said the judge’s ruling could have significant unintended consequences.
The latest conflict is centered on a federal rule initiated years ago but finalized by former President Trump's administration that would have enabled more slaughterhouses to eliminate a limit on line processing speeds.
Already, in farm states, meat eating has joined abortion, gun control and transgender rights as an issue that quickly sends partisans to their corners.
A federal judge has thrown out a rule allowing pork plants to speed up production lines because the U.S. Department of Agriculture didn't properly consider the risks to workers.
Based on a union survey and the experience at the first couple plants where vaccines were offered one union official predicts roughly 70% of workers who get the chance to be vaccinated will get a shot.
The USDA said the meat was produced by Greater Omaha Packing Co. in Omaha, on Jan. 14.
Major companies such as Tyson Foods and JBS are encouraging workers to get the vaccine with campaigns to educate them about the benefits and safety of the shots. Also, some are offering $100 bonuses to workers who get the vaccine.
“We are seeing an increase in the number of positive (test) rates like you're seeing in the surrounding communities,” said Gary Johnson, chief manufacturing officer at Ford Motor Co., which has about 56,000 hourly factory workers nationwide.
The Strengthening Local Processing Act would help smaller facilities expand to meet demand and adapt to the coronavirus pandemic, the lawmakers said.
“This action by the Chinese is completely unjustified,” National Chicken Council spokesman Tom Super said.
“Don’t expect prices to fall in half just because wholesale prices have declined dramatically,” said Lee Schulz, a livestock economist at Iowa State University.
A Nebraska meatpacking plant that was forced to shut down because of a coronavirus outbreak among its workers is slowly ramping up its operati…
Another 3,000 have tested positive, according to an estimate released Thursday by the largest union representing workers.
Reliance and uncertainty about a virus that's killed at least 20 workers and temporarily shuttered several plants is fueling concerns about possible labor shortages to meet demand for beef, pork and chicken.
Some states are providing more money to help pay for food that might otherwise go to waste, the USDA is spending $3 billion to help get farm products to food banks and a senator is seeking $8 billion more to buy farm produce for food banks.
Nebraska food pantries can apply for a grant to help purchase refrigerators and freezers to store more perishable items.