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Smithfield Foods said on December 5, 2023, that it would end contracts with 26 hog farms in Utah. The company cited pork oversupply, weaker consumer demand and high feed prices, describing the move as part of an effort to optimize its supply chain. The affected farms were finishing operations, which raise hogs to slaughter weight; Smithfield said its company-owned Utah sow farms would continue operating.
Why did Smithfield end the Utah farm contracts?
Smithfield characterized the decision as its latest response to a sustained downturn in hog-production markets. It said industry pork oversupply, weaker consumer demand and high feed prices made it necessary to adjust production and supply-chain efficiency. Those are the company’s stated reasons, not an independent analysis establishing the causes or scale of conditions across the U.S. pork market. Smithfield’s December 5, 2023 announcement also described other steps, including rebalancing production with East Coast harvest capacity and reducing its Missouri sow herd.
Then-CEO Shane Smith said, “Our industry and company are experiencing historically challenging hog production market conditions.” The statement describes the company’s view of its circumstances; it is not a statistical measure of the broader market.
Which farms and operations were affected?
The 26 agreements involved Utah finishing farms, where hogs are raised to slaughter weight, according to Reuters’ December 2023 report. Smithfield said its company-owned Utah sow farms would keep operating. The announcement therefore concerned contract finishing operations, not a shutdown of all Smithfield hog production in Utah.
The sources do not give farm-by-farm details or the terms of the contracts. They do establish a distinction between the affected contract farms that finished hogs and Smithfield’s company-owned sow farms, which remained open.
How many workers could be affected?
Smithfield said the final number of positions to be eliminated had not yet been determined. It estimated that reductions might reach one-third of the 210 employees in its Utah hog-production operations. Reuters described that potential maximum as about 70 employees. Neither figure means that 70 people definitely lost their jobs.
Smithfield said it would offer affected employees relocation opportunities and transition assistance. The available reporting does not establish how many workers were ultimately laid off, relocated or otherwise affected.
How did the decision fit Smithfield’s wider restructuring?
The Utah contract terminations were one part of a broader restructuring of Smithfield’s hog-production business. Its 2024 annual report described ceasing some Missouri sow-farm operations, ending certain contract-farmer agreements and closing some eastern U.S. farms during fiscal years 2023 and 2024. It also described selling sow and hog inventories to North Carolina businesses Murphy Family Farms and VisionAg, which became hog suppliers.
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In a quarterly filing for the period ended June 28, 2026, Smithfield said its “Hog Production Reform,” which began in 2023, involved ending certain farm operations, terminating some agreements with underperforming contract farmers and reducing the hog-production business. The filing said Murphy Family Farms and VisionAg supplied approximately 3.9 million hogs annually. That later supplier arrangement provides context for the company’s broader production strategy; it does not establish the cause of the December 2023 Utah decision.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What later hog-inventory data can—and cannot—show
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that U.S. farms held 74.5 million hogs and pigs on September 1, 2025. That inventory was down 1% from September 2024 and up 1% from June 1, 2025, according to the USDA report published September 25, 2025. Because this observation came nearly two years after Smithfield’s announcement, it is later context—not evidence that independently verifies the market conditions Smithfield cited in 2023.
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