Smithfield shutting South Dakota pork plant indefinitely

Smithfield Foods announced on April 12 that its Sioux Falls, S.D., facility would remain closed until further notice. The plant, which employs 3,700 people, is one of the largest pork processing facilities in the United States, representing 4%–5% of U.S. pork production.

“The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply,” said Kenneth Sullivan, president and CEO, Smithfield. “It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running. These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous repercussions for many in the supply chain, first and foremost, our nation’s livestock farmers. These farmers have nowhere to send their animals.”

Smithfield will resume operations in Sioux Falls once further direction is received from local, state, and federal officials. The company will continue to compensate its employees for the next two weeks.

Two days after the shutdown announcement, Smithfield Foods announced it would provide a $100 million “responsibility bonus” to all its hourly production and distribution center team members. Employees who miss work due to COVID-19 exposure or diagnosis will receive the bonus. According to Reuters, this would average out to $2,500 for each of the company’s 40,000 workers. The $100 million “responsibility bonus” is on top of a previous $20 million commitment by the company, which provided $500 to all its hourly production and distribution center team members.