In 2017, the 40 largest U.S. pork producers added 246,850 sows, bringing their combined total above 4 million for the first time, according to Successful Farming. The expansion coincided with new slaughter capacity, low grain costs and strong production. The concern was that pork supply could grow faster than consumers and export markets could absorb it—not that a downturn was certain.
What the 2017 report counted
Successful Farming’s October 20, 2017, report by Betsy Freese was a snapshot of the 40 largest U.S. pork producers, not a current inventory. It said those companies owned or managed more than 4 million sows for the first time, compared with an estimated 6 million sows across the United States. Twenty-five of the 40 increased sow numbers that year, while six reduced them. Successful Farming’s 2017 report
The article highlighted several large additions: Pipestone System added 55,000 sows and reached 240,000; Iowa Select Farms added 36,000 and reached 207,000; and Seaboard Foods added 35,000 through acquisitions. Smithfield Foods was reported to have 910,000 U.S. sows and to have acquired 30,000 from Hormel’s Farmer John business. These are figures as printed in the 2017 article, not independently reconciled or current company totals. Successful Farming’s 2017 report
Why producers were expanding
The report described conditions that made growth appealing. Grain was cheap, new packing plants were coming online, and producers were achieving high output. More slaughter capacity offered a route to market additional hogs, while low feed costs could improve the economics of raising them. The story framed these factors as incentives for expansion, not guarantees that every added sow or facility would be profitable. Successful Farming’s discussion of expansion conditions
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Why more capacity could become a problem
The central risk was a mismatch: sow numbers and pork production might rise faster than demand. New packing capacity could accommodate more animals, but processors still needed buyers for the pork. Producers and the article pointed to both U.S. consumers and export markets as necessary outlets for the growing supply. Successful Farming’s discussion of market concerns
Views in the article differed. Some producers anticipated losses or a market downturn; others saw opportunities in the changing industry. Joe Szaloky, then Smithfield Foods’ vice president of business development and planning, said, “I don’t think the approach we have today is sustainable. Hog farmers cannot survive in the long run when they operate in long periods of losses.” His warning expressed a concern about prolonged losses; it did not establish that a crash would occur. Successful Farming’s market outlook discussion Szaloky’s statement
Pressures beyond prices
Labor
Producers also described difficulty hiring and retaining workers, as well as concerns about worker quality. Automation and other technologies were discussed as possible ways to address labor needs, but the report did not establish how well new technology would perform across farms. Szaloky summarized the pressure this way: “Labor becomes a bigger issue for all of us every single day.” Successful Farming’s labor discussion
Herd health
The article reported concerns about porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv). Producers described practices including batch farrowing, single-source flows and filtering sow farms. These are accounts from 2017, not current veterinary or biosecurity guidance. Successful Farming’s herd-health discussion
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Technology and production systems
Alongside automation, the story mentioned electronic sow feeding, with diets tailored to individual animals using identification chips. It presented technology as part of the industry’s response to production and labor challenges, not as a retail recommendation or a claim that one approach was proven best. Successful Farming’s technology discussion
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“Expansion spells trouble” captured the story’s concern about supply growth and the possibility of extended losses. The underlying article documented expansion and competing outlooks in 2017; it did not prove that a particular later market outcome followed. Its figures and producer comments should therefore be read as historical reporting, not as a description of today’s pork sector or a forecast for current prices.
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