pork — Latest Stories

Independent Farmers Worry About a Farm Bill Effort to Preempt State-Level Livestock Standards

The Save Our Bacon Act is the latest attempt by the big meat lobby to override state-level animal welfare standards, which some independent farmers see as a critical new market opportunity to compete against dominant firms.

USDA Seeks to Increase Meatpacking Line Speeds, Threatening Workers, Consumers

USDA’s proposal culminates a decades-long effort to shift inspection duties from government officials to plant worker and increase processing line speeds, benefiting industry.

Environmental Organizations Ask USDA to Stop Subsidizing Manure Digesters

Over 30 environmental organizations want USDA to stop subsidizing manure-to-biogas machinery that they argue entrenches large, polluting livestock operations, promotes farm consolidation, and wastes taxpayer dollars.

Dairy, Poultry & Livestock, PolicyClaire KellowayJanuary 22, 2026Biogas, Digesters, USDA, California, dairy, pork, climate change, Methane

JBS Buys Assets from its Hog Supplier TriOak

JBS will buy undisclosed assets from Iowa hog producer TriOak, locking up a supply of Prop-12 compliant hogs and vertically integrating an already consolidated industry.

Mergers & Acquisitions, Poultry & LivestockClaire KellowayDecember 20, 2022JBS, Iowa, pork, Primary Feature

Big Ag and Big Oil Eye Biogas Profits, Shell Buys Nature Energy

Shell buys biogas company that will turn cow manure into burnable gas. Opponents say these taxpayer supported projects expand dirty gas infrastructure and polluting industrial animal farms.

Natural Meat Marketing Misled Consumers, Lawsuit Claims

Recently unsealed legal evidence documents how Hormel misled consumers by selling the same industrially raised animals under its Natural Choice and conventional product lines.

Poultry & LivestockClaire KellowayNovember 21, 2022pork, meatpacking, Turkey, Competition, lawsuit, Secondary Feature

Big Pork Says Animal Welfare Rule Breeds Monopoly; Small Farmers Disagree

The National Pork Producers Council says California’s Prop. 12 will drive small farms out of business. But a group of small farmers argues that the anti-crate law gives them a rare market opportunity.

Food and Environmental Justice Groups Petition EPA to Regulate Dairy and Hog Methane

Methane emissions from industrial hog and dairy operations are rising and contributing to climate change, yet the industry faces little regulation.

Dairy, Policy, Poultry & LivestockClaire KellowayApril 15, 2021pork, dairy, climate change, pollution, CAFO

Tyson, JBS, and Other Packers Pay Millions to Settle Poultry and Pork Price-Fixing Suits

While hundreds of millions for cheated customers is nothing to sneeze at, it is not clear if these recent settlements will discourage future collusion.

Enforcement, Poultry & LivestockClaire KellowayFebruary 4, 2021price fixing, poultry, pork

Consumers, Small Meatpackers, and Labor Lose Their Voice to Corporate Packers on USDA Food Safety Advisory Committee, Violating Charter

Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced 10 new appointments to an independent committee advising food safety and inspection policy.

Labor, Processing & DistributionClaire KellowayAugust 27, 2020chicken, dairy, pork, slaughter, resiliency

Farmers Join Labor Union in Call to Protect Workers, Citing Need for Farmer Labor Solidarity - Poultry CEOs Indicted for Price Fixing

A group of farmers and ranchers last week joined the leading meatpacking workers’ union to demand greater protections for meatpacking workers, acknowledging a shared fight against mistreatment by large meatpackers in the wake of COVID-19.

LaborClaire KellowayJune 4, 2020Antitrust, COVID-19, meatpacking, ranchers, safety, solidarity, UFCW, workers, pork, resiliency, slaughter

USDA Continues to Lift Meat Processing Line Speed Limits During Pandemic, Threatening Frontline Workers and Consumers

While the country grapples with the COVID-19 crisis, USDA food safety officials have been making decisions that could further sicken Americans and threaten frontline food workers.

Processing & DistributionClaire KellowayApril 9, 2020chicken, Food Safety, FSIS, inspectors, NPIS, NSIS, pork, slaughter, tyson, USDA, workers, labor