Smithfield Foods third-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates

reuters / Smithfield Foods Inc., the largest U.S. hog producer, reported third-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates, helped by higher sales of packaged meat products such as Smithfield bacon and Eckrich and Armour sausages. The company, which receives nearly half of its revenue from packaged meat, said higher demand from international markets, particularly from


What’s in a catchy phrase? Plenty if the term is ‘pink slime’

Lawyers for Beef Products Inc. say ABC’s characterization of lean finely textured beef made it 
sound vile, but network says it’s an accurate term for a thick, slippery substance

A year ago, Beef Products Inc. had four state-of-the art plants, more than 1,300 employees and was expanding aggressively. The meat company was the leading maker of “lean finely textured beef,” a low-fat product made from chunks of beef, including trimmings, and exposed to tiny bursts of ammonium hydroxide to kill E. coli and other



Cow-calf producers’ survival is still about production costs

The times are good for prices, but cattle producers have a lot on their minds these days. Calving has started on many ranches, and the complicated production scenarios already are constantly churning for producers. Unfortunately, the dollars associated with many production scenarios often are in place well before adequate financial evaluations are done. The critical



Truth and trust hit the dirt

The ongoing horsemeat scandal crippling the European food industry brings several rather awkward questions to mind. First of all, what’s wrong with horsemeat? On the surface, nothing, except many of us, if given the choice, would prefer not to eat it. The problem is that people weren’t given the choice. In fact, they were lied




Looking after the other half of your genetic pool

Since bulls are half the genetic value of your herd, they are definitely worth looking after. There are various steps and management procedures which will give your bulls more longevity and make them more productive. If you can get more years and/or more cows bred from these top genetic bulls it will benefit you greatly,