Someone in the Warner administration should ask Joe Luter, CEO of Smithfield Foods, why he can’t expand hog production in Southeastern Virginia. Here’s an advance peek at a story running in tomorrow’s VA Newswire:
Smithfield Packing to Consolidate Hog Processing Operations
SMITHFIELD—Smithfield Packing Company will shift hog processing operations from its Smithfield South facility to its Smithfield North and Tar Heel, N.C., facilities in October, allowing the company to use vacant plant space to install a production line for pre-cooked microwave bacon next year. The changeover affects approximately 570 of the company’s 4,000 employees in Southeast Virginia. The company hopes to rehire all affected employees over the next nine months.
Explained CEO Joseph W. Luter IV: “This difficult but necessary decision to discontinue hog processing at the Smithfield plant is driven largely by hog availability and competitive industry conditions. This lack of hog supply is the direct result of the moratorium on hog farms in North Carolina and the de facto moratorium in Virginia.” (My emphasis.) More.
Jerry Kilgore and Tim Kaine, can you sniff a new campaign issue?
