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The Top U.S. Pork / Hog Producers - Pork Powerhouses (2004)

By Successful Farming - This article briefly lists the US top 10 pork / hog producers in 2003/2004, as published by Successful Farming magazine. The article also provides a link to the full Successful Farming Pork Powerhouses Report for 2004.

13 October 2004

3 minute read

There should be no shortage of hogs next year. Sow numbers for the 30 largest Pork producers in 2004 show an increase of 137,100 over 2003. However, only about 10,000 of those sows were true expansion; the rest was acquisition as the industry continues to consolidate.

10 largest pork producers in the United States
2004 Rank	2003 Rank	Name of Operation	Headquarters	# Sows 2004	# Sows 2003	Comments
1	1	Smithfield Foods	Smithfield, VA	808,000	756,000	Bought Farmland Pork, Alliance Farms. 900,000 sows total worldwide.
2	2	Premium Standard Farms	Kansas City, MO	225,000	225,000	Acquiring a few sows; trimming others. (ContiGroup Companies) No net expansion plans.
3	3	Seaboard Farms	Shawnee Mission, KS	213,600	213,600	Will market all pork for Triumph Foods. Sourcing genetics (PIC) from Triumph.
4	8	Christensen Farms	Sleepy Eye, MN	144,000	94,000	Bought Heartland Pork Enterprises. Is shareholder in Triumph Foods.
5	6	Iowa Select Farms	Iowa Falls, IA	130,000	100,000	Leasing DeCoster sow units (Premier Farms) in Iowa.
5	4	Prestage Farms	Clinton, NC	130,000	129,000	Bought DeCoster finishing sites in Iowa. Shipping more pigs to Iowa for finishing.
7	6	The Pipestone System	Pipestone, MN	100,000	100,000	Total management system produces weaned pigs. Owns Ellison Meat.
8	5	Cargill	Minneapolis, MN	99,000	118,000	Exiting North Carolina; wants sow farms closer to its Midwest Excel plants.
9	9	Goldsboro Hog Farm	Goldsboro, NC	76,000	74,000	Slight growth through acquisition.
10	10	The Hanor Company	Spring Green, WI	73,500	73,500	Hanor is shareholder in Triumph Foods. Customized genetics program with PIC.
Source: Successful Farming