Analyst Says Smithfield Reopening A 'Positive Sign'

May 11, 2020

Smithfield Foods has resumed operations at its Sioux Falls, South Dakota pork processing plant.

It's one of the largest pork processing facilities in the U.S., representing four to five per cent of American pork production.

"It is a positive sign, that it's possible to get back up and running within 2 weeks of a pretty major outbreak," said Tyler Fulton, Director of Risk Management with Hams Marketing Services. "The reality is the industry is still hamstrung by really limited capacity and now that is being represented in the cash price that producers are being paid, which is very unprofitable."

Fulton notes forward hog prices are also in rough shape.

He added that demand for pork in China and Japan remains high.

"The evidence suggests that it's still very, very good. To be clear, there's still a massive shortage of pork in China due to African swine fever and they have been active buyers of North American pork."

Fulton says while demand is good, the volume of North American pork being exported is likely not very good due to a lack of processing capacity.

Click here to see more...

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.