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Major pork producer files for bankruptcy

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

(Updated 2:29 pm)

By
Associated Press

CLINTON (AP) — A pork producer has filed for bankruptcy after complaints from unpaid vendors and falling pork consumption tied to swine flu fears.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported today that Coharie Farms of Clinton filed for bankruptcy Friday and will appear in court today. Coharie owner Anne Faircloth said that she plans to liquidate the company and that some of its 170 employees will be laid off.

"There isn't a person raising hogs right now who isn't suffering," Faircloth told the News & Observer. "I wish there was some way we could have avoided taking this step."

Faircloth is the daughter of Lauch Faircloth, a former Republican senator from North Carolina.

As many as 30 farmers complained earlier this month that Coharie hadn't paid for grain deliveries. Coharie's debts to various vendors top $3 million.

The company blamed losses on a 2008 jump in grain prices, a $20 drop in hog prices and fears about the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, driving down pork consumption. The industry has been affected despite assurances from health officials that no link exists between the virus and consumption of pork.

Coharie has lost $17 million so far this year on top of more than $13 million in losses last year.

North Carolina has the second-largest pork industry in the country. Coharie sells meat to Virginia-based pork giant Smithfield and in 2009 was ranked the No. 22 producer of pork in the country. It has operations in 11 North Carolina counties.

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logicfairy

November 10, 2009 - 10:54 am EST

Unwarranted fears about H1N1? How about completely warranted fears about all the real health consequences of factory farms, as well as the cruelty and pollution and lower quality of life for their neighbors?

Small farmers switching over to pastured pork are finding a market for their meat.

TheCasualReader

November 10, 2009 - 12:54 pm EST

LogicFairy -- your pastured pork producers are also having big difficulties. In fact, most farm folks are having troubles with the economy these days. Consumers have cut back in all sorts of ways, including buying organic and upscale foods in general, such as organic and premium foods, including specialty pork products which are often as much higher as 50% premium priced or more, and which mostly just sit on the shelf at the upscale markets. A few specialty food markets are surviving, but who knows how much longer.