Chris Moore

Smithfield Foods challenged a federal magistrate judge's recommendation that an age discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission proceed to a jury trial. In objections filed in federal court in Georgia, Smithfield argued that the magistrate judge improperly second-guessed the company's business decisions surrounding cost-cutting measures during...

Smithfield Foods' Eckrich brand has been named the official smoked sausage and deli meat partner of the Big Ten Conference, expanding the brand's presence across college athletics. The partnership will include football, basketball, hockey, baseball, softball and other Big Ten sports across the conference's 18 schools. Eckrich said the agreement...

The U.S. beef packing industry has shed a significant amount of slaughter capacity in less than eight months, but two cattle economists say the numbers tell only part of the story. Tyson Foods' latest restructuring will close its Joslin, Ill., beef plant, eliminate a case-ready operation in Eagle Mountain, Utah,...

U.S. cattle inventories in large feedlots increased from a year earlier even as July placements and marketings fell to record lows for the month, underscoring continued tightness in the nation's cattle supply. Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter in feedlots with capacity of at least 1,000 head totaled 11.1...

Republican lawmakers from several major cattle-producing states criticized President Donald Trump's plan to temporarily suspend tariffs on additional ground beef imports, arguing the move could undermine U.S. cattle producers and efforts to rebuild the nation's herd. Trump announced Friday that the U.S. would allow up to 300,000 metric tons of...

USDA reported mixed cold-storage trends for meat and poultry in July, with pork inventories rising sharply from a year earlier while beef and chicken stocks remained below 2025 levels. Total frozen red meat supplies on July 31 were 3% below the previous month but 2% above a year earlier, according...

Hormel Foods named Ash Bhumbla executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective Sept. 8, the company announced Tuesday. Bhumbla will lead Hormel's finance organization and join the company's senior leadership team, overseeing financial strategy, capital allocation and long-term growth objectives. He joins Hormel from Tyson Foods, where he most...

Butterball has agreed to pay $34 million to settle claims from direct purchasers in the long-running turkey price-fixing litigation, resolving claims against the final remaining defendant in the case. Direct purchaser plaintiffs asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to grant preliminary approval of the settlement,...

Global beef production is expected to decline 2% in 2026 as tighter cattle supplies weigh on output across several major producing regions, according to Rabobank's latest Global Beef Quarterly. Rabobank expects production to fall in the U.S., Brazil, China and Europe, with the global contraction expected to continue over the...

Hormel Foods reported a sharp decline in operating income in its fiscal third quarter, as charges tied to its Brazil divestiture, an investment impairment and litigation settlement weighed on results, while lower sales volumes and operational inefficiencies also pressured performance. Operating income fell to $111 million, with an operating margin...