Smithfield Foods | Wikipedia audio article
Channel: wikipedia tts
Date: 11/12/2018

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Smithfield Foods


00:02:34 1 Company profile
00:02:43 1.1 History
00:05:34 1.2 Mergers and acquisitions
00:07:36 1.3 Purchase by Shuanghui Group
00:09:29 1.4 Employees, brands
00:10:15 1.5 Lobbying
00:10:34 2 Pig production
00:10:43 2.1 Vertical integration, contract farms
00:12:40 2.2 Housing and lagoons
00:13:51 2.3 Pregnant sows
00:16:18 3 Environmental and animal-welfare record
00:16:29 3.1 Emissions
00:19:09 3.2 Operations in Mexico
00:20:51 3.3 Packaging reduction
00:21:41 3.4 Use of antibiotics
00:22:33 3.5 2006 CIWF investigation
00:23:36 3.6 2010 HSUS investigation
00:25:33 3.7 Lawsuits
00:27:32 4 Legal and labor issues
00:27:41 4.1 Working conditions
00:29:01 4.2 Union dispute
00:30:45 4.3 Justice Department penalty
00:31:11 5 Medical supplies
00:31:45 6 Philanthropy and sponsorship
00:31:55 6.1 Smithfield Foundation
00:32:46 6.2 Sports sponsorships
00:33:34 7 See also



Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain

Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.

You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuKfABj2eGyjH3ntPxp4YeQ

You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
https://github.com/nodef/wikipedia-tts



"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."
- Socrates



SUMMARY
=======
Smithfield Foods, Inc., is a meat-processing company and wholly owned subsidiary of WH Group of China. Founded in 1936 as the Smithfield Packing Company in Smithfield, Virginia, by Joseph W. Luter and his son, the company is the largest pig and pork producer in the world. In addition to owning over 500 farms in the United States, Smithfield contracts with another 2,000 independent farms around the country to grow Smithfield's pigs. Outside the U.S., the company has facilities in Mexico, Poland, Romania, Germany and the UK. Globally the company employed 50,200 in 2016 and reported an annual revenue of $14 billion. Its 973,000-square-foot meat-processing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina, was reported in 2000 to be the world's largest, processing 32,000 pigs a day.Then known as Shuanghui Group, WH Group purchased Smithfield Foods in 2013 for $4.72 billion, more than its market value. It was the largest Chinese acquisition of an American company to date. The acquisition of Smithfield's 146,000 acres of land made WH Group, headquartered in Luohe, Henan province, one of the largest overseas leasers of American farmland.Smithfield Foods began its growth in 1981 with the purchase of Gwaltney of Smithfield, followed by the acquisition of nearly 40 companies between then and 2008, including Eckrich; Farmland Foods of Kansas; John Morrell; Murphy Family Farms of North Carolina; Circle Four Farms of Utah; and Premium Standard Farms. The company was able to grow as a result of its highly industrialized pig production, confining thousands of pigs in large barns known as concentrated animal feeding operations, and controlling the animals' development from conception to packing.As of 2006 Smithfield raised 15 million pigs a year and processed 27 million, producing over six billion pounds of pork and, in 2012, 4.7 billion gallons of manure. Killing 114,300 pigs a day, it was the top pig-slaughter operation in the United States in 2007; along with three other companies, it also slaughtered 56 percent of the cattle processed there until it sold its beef group in 2008. The company sells its products under several brand names, including Cook's, Eckrich, Gwaltney, John Morrell, Krakus, and Smithfield. Kenneth M. Sullivan became the president and chief executive officer in 2015.