The Porkline

N.C. Pork Council's Weekly Briefing
Friday, January 2, 2007
V. 8 no. 47

Dear Producers, Associates and Affiliates,

As most of you know, Julie Woodson recently resigned from the NC Pork Council. As a result of her departure, The Porkline, a newsletter publication of the North Carolina Pork Council which she edited, will be published on an irregular schedule through January 2007.

We are in the midst of preparing a communications audit and evaluating our various ways and means of both internal and external communications. In the next few weeks, you may receive a written or phone survey about The Porkline publication and/or other Council communication efforts. We would ask that you respond to any of our written surveys, telephone interviews or polls as we need your direct input to ensure our effectiveness.

Thanks and best wishes to you and your families in this special season,

Deborah Johnson and the Staff of the NC Pork Council

Please see attached for Response to Recent Attack on Smithfield Foods and NC Pork Production
Attached with this edition of The Porkline is a letter from Dennis Treacy of Smithfield Foods and Jeff Turner of Murphy-Brown in response to an article in the current edition of Rolling Stone magazine. The NC Pork Council is sharing this communication with so that you can better understand the Smithfield/Murphy-Brown position on this shameful article. This letter, which has been distributed to Murphy-Brown associates and contract producers, will be posted to our web site after the holiday season. If other response actions are implemented, we will update you.

2007 N.C. Agricultural Development Forum set for Feb. 1 NC Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler encourages farmers, agribusiness professionals and others interested in U.S. farm policy to attend the 2007 North Carolina Agricultural Development Forum Thursday, Feb. 1, at the State Fairgrounds.
The forum will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Holshouser Building. Admission is free.

“The 2007 Farm Bill is going to be a hot topic in the upcoming session of Congress,” Troxler said. “Through this forum, we want to provide the agricultural community with an opportunity to gather information and give their opinions about Farm Bill programs pertaining to commodities, conservation, alternative energy and biomass research.” The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is organizing the forum. For information, contact Dewitt Hardee at (919) 733-7125, ext. 239.

News from the National Pork Producer’s Council (NPPC)
Manure Clarification Bill dies with end of 109TH Congress: While the end of the 109th Congress brought victories for NPPC – approval of PNTR for Vietnam and no vote on a bill to ban the processing of horses for human consumption – there also was one defeat. Efforts to add legislation to clarify that manure is not a hazardous substance or pollutant under federal Superfund laws to a bill extending expiring tax credits failed. Recent lawsuits against livestock operations have alleged that manure and its constituents (nitrogen and phosphorus compounds) are subject to the liability provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and to the reporting provisions of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA). Without the clarification, says NPPC, the use of manure as fertilizer on farms effectively could be prohibited. NPPC will work in the next Congress to get clarification legislation approved.

News from the National Pork Board (NPB)
Classical Swine Fever Video Project: The Pork Check-off has partnered with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians and Iowa State University, using USDA funds, to produce a 3D video that helps to train producers and veterinarians to recognize and respond to Classical Swine Fever. Expertise and technical assistance was also received from North Carolina State University. The video will be available after March 1, 2007. Filming of the video took place in early December at Butler Farms (Robert and Tom Butler) and Black Farms (LD Black), both in Harnett County.

NC Dept of Agriculture – Promoting Pork and other NC Commodities on TV
A cooking piece for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture was scheduled to air on Friday, December 22 on FOX 50 between 5 am and 9 am pending any breaking news. The feature included the creation of a pork dish. You can check out the site and get the recipes by going to: www.agr.state.nc.us/markets/christmasrecipes/index.html

NCPC Producer Activities in January
January 4 Meeting for producers in Anson County area
January 8 Meeting for producers in Surry County area
January 18 Meeting for producers in Robeson County area

For details regarding any of these meetings, contact the Pork Council office at 919-781-0361.

Smithfield
Murphy-Brown
December 18, 2006

Dear Associate:

As you may have seen, recent edition of Rolling Stone magazine contained a long article entitled "Bosshog" that was a wholly misguided attack on Smithfeild Foods, Inc. and the hog production practices of producers in North Carolina.

Some of us at Smithfield Foods and Murphy-Brown LLC, our livestock production practices of producers in North Carolina.

Some of us at Smithfield Foods and Murphy-Brown LLC, our livestock production subsidiary, have received calls and messages from concerned associates, customers and employees regarding all of the outrageous accusations in the Rolling Stone article.

We want you to know that we are justifiably livid about the article. It was one of the worst examples of irresponsible journalism that we have seen in a long, long time. We can assure you that the article's portrayal of Smithfield Foods and North Carolina hog production practices was pure fiction.

Rolling Stone's readers should expect balanced reporting that fairly and accurately presents both sides. However, "Bosshog" was a disservice to the magazine's readers because all the reporter did was rehash misinformation and lies that were debunked years ago.

While our company's representatives agreed to be interviewed for the article, we didn't harbor any unrealistic expectiations about the outcome given the reporter's clearly biased agenda. Nevertheless, we were greatly disappointed because he didn't even bother to give us a fair hearing.

We spent a great deal of time answering the reporter's questions and providing him with documented background information about Smithfield's and Murphy-Bronw's many accmplishments in the areas of environmental protection, animal welfare, antibiotics, safety of our employees have a long and proud history of managing our business responsbily.

We cooperated fully with the reporter in an admittedly long-shot attempt to present a balanced picture of Smithfield Foods, but unfortunately he decided to discard the facts in favor of perpetuating a fabricated stereotype.

Rolling Stone totally brushed aside our achievements in corporate social responsibility that have earned praise from such reputable organizations as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), FTSE Group and FORTUNE magazine.

You can reread the article as many times as you like, but you won't find references to :

*FORTUNE*magazine naming Smithfield to its annual list of America's Most Admired companies for the fourth consecutive year.

*London-based FTSE Group adding Smithfield to its prestigious FTSE4Good Global Index Series of socially responsible companies.

*Smithfield receiving ISO 14001 enviromental certification for all its U.S. hog production and beef and pork processing facilities, an international seal of approval for our environmental management practices.

*EPA officials praising Smithfield's environmental stewardship efforts after we became the first company in our industry to achieve such widespread ISO certification.

*Forty-five Smithfield facilities in 19 states earning honors from the American Meat Institue (AMI) and the Virginia Governor's Environmental Excellence Awards (GEEA) for their environmental stewardship efforts during the past year.

That was just a sampling the information we gave Rolling Stone, but which it chose to ignore. That's unfortunate, but as indicatied earlier, not totally unexpected. For some people, the truth doesn't fit comfortably with their biases.

Responsbile people outside our company, who have taken the time to study our track record, have concluded that Smithfield Foods and its independent operating companies take their environmental and animal welfare responsibilites very seriously, and are commited to the highest ethical standards in managing our business. We're proud of their assessment, and we've all worked hard to earn it.

If you would like more information about Smithfield Foods, Murphy-Brown or our policies, we invite you to visit our Web sites at www.smithfieldfoods.com or www.murphybrownllc.com.

Sincerely,

Dennis H. Treacy
Smithfield Foods

Jeffery B. Turner
Murphy-Brown LLC