Smithfield Reports No Lagoon Failures to Date in the Wake of Historic Flooding From Hurricane Matthew

SMITHFIELD, Va., Oct. 13, 2016 -- Smithfield Foods employees continue to work around the clock to determine the impact of the extraordinarily high levels of rain in North Carolina on the company’s farms and processing facilities.

None of our processing plants in North Carolina or Virginia suffered substantive damage, but flooding is making the movement of hogs and employees difficult. Our teams are working diligently to mitigate these logistical issues, and our facilities are operating at full capacity in Virginia, and at a reduced rate in North Carolina. We anticipate resuming full production next week.

As of Thursday afternoon, we had no reports of our farms suffering a breach or a lagoon failure. We have one report of flood waters rising into the lagoon at one of our contract farms. We continue to monitor reports from on the ground and aerial observation.

This remains a serious, life-threatening situation, and our top priorities continue to be the safety and well-being of our employees and the care of our animals.

About Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield^Ⓡ, Eckrich^Ⓡ, Nathan's Famous^Ⓡ, Farmland^Ⓡ, Armour^Ⓡ, John Morrell^Ⓡ, Cook's^Ⓡ, Kretschmar^Ⓡ, Gwaltney^Ⓡ, Curly's^Ⓡ, Margherita^Ⓡ, Carando^Ⓡ, Healthy Ones^Ⓡ, Krakus^Ⓡ, Morliny^Ⓡ and Berlinki^Ⓡ. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.

Contact:
Kathleen Kirkham
Smithfield Foods, Inc.
(757) 365-1965
[email protected]