US farm groups worried about Smithfield deal

The groups, asking for scrutiny into the sale and relationship between stakeholders in the two companies, comes after anti-trust worries, urged by Iowa senators, on the announced deal.

 

Smithfield, the world’s largest pork company, announced earlier this month the company would buy PSF, which is the second-largest pork producer in the country.

 

The deal is worth $810 million and would give Smithfield a sow herd of about 1 million head. Smithfield also would control about 31% of the nation’s pork slaughter.

 

The major complaint is that PSF’s largest shareholder, ContiGroup, also has a partnership with Smithfield, as ContiGroup and Smithfield merged their cattle-feeding operations in 2005.

 

The expanding Smithfield company also faced criticism from human rights activists last week, protesting against alleged abusive treatment of 5,500 predominantly Latinan and Afro-American workers, who would have been denied to join a union.

 

• US Department of Justice

• Smithfield Foods

• Premium Standard Farms

• ContiGroup