Destroying small farmers

Big business takeover
Small independent farmers are relentlessly driven out of business by the economies of scale which large pig production systems can command. Twenty years ago in North Carolina, where we went to film the US footage of Pig Business, there were 27,000 independent family pig farmers. Today there are almost none; instead, there are 2,200 pig factories. Of these, 1,600 are either owned or contracted to Smithfield, who now control 75% of all pig production in the state. The factories have created new jobs, but they have displaced three times that number of independent family famers.

The corporate takeover of the meat industry is accelerating. In 1985, the top four pork-producing companies in the US accounted for 32% of the market; by 1998 they controlled over 56%; by 2006 that had risen to 63%.

These vast corporations operate a system of ‘vertical integration’, which allows them to keep ownership and control of every stage of pig production, from the DNA line and feed right down to the day-to-day management of the end product ­– meat. They own thousands of sows themselves, have contracts with other hog farmers to raise even more sows, and have direct contracts with most of the other hog packers. Thus the small farmer’s access to the open market is drastically reduced.

Four multi-billion-dollar pork-producing companies monopolise the US pig industry.

Source: North Carolina in the Global Economy – Hog Farming

Pig farming goes global
The top three corporations, Smithfield, Tyson and Swift, have set up joint ventures right across the globe, including subsidiaries and partnerships in Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe and South America. Although Canada, China and the US are the leaders in hog farming and pork production, many of the businesses within Canada and China are acquisitions, subsidiaries and partners of some of the leading US companies. Companies like Smithfield have pork subsidiaries in several different countries, including the UK, Poland, Romania, Mexico and China.

A similar trend may be developing in Europe. In 2007, the top ten companies in Europe held about 30% of European pig meat production, but the large firms continue to forge new partnerships and acquire other companies. Only this year, Grampian Country Food Group was acquired by VION, allowing it to overtake Danish Crown as Europe’s largest pig meat processer. The biggest pig meat production companies in the UK are not British owned.

Source: Meat Processing Global – July/August 2007

Further reading

Food and Water Watch – Turning Farms into Factories (2007)

Food and Water Watch – The Trouble with Smithfield (2008)

Bankwatch – ‘Who’s squeezing Polish Farmers?’(2004)