A Missouri jury has awarded $11 million to 15 people who complained of foul odors emanating from a nearby hog farm owned by a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods Inc.

Smithfield Foods, not always a favorite of environmentalists, now has a "chief sustainability officer."

A ray of economic sunshine pierced the storm clouds of job loss enveloping Hampton Roads on Thursday. Smithfield Foods Inc. said it planned to lay off no more than 30 workers at its soon-to-close Smithfield Packing Co. South plant. That's less than 9 percent of the number - 340 - that the company had predicted it would let go almost a year ago.

SMITHFIELD Smithfield Foods Inc. announced Monday that it sold two of its smaller companies - RMH Foods LLC and Maverick Food Co. Ltd. - to focus on its primary business. Smithfield, which specializes in pork, ham and packaged foods, said it sold "substantially all of the assets" of RMH, which produces precooked beef, pork and chicken entrees at two plants in Morton, Ill.

The Humane Society of the United States today submitted a shareholder resolution to Smithfield Foods Inc., encouraging the company to switch to a different method of slaughtering turkeys. Smithfield owns a 49 percent stake in Butterball LLC.

The animal rights group advocates the use of “controlled-atmosphere killing,” which involves using inert gases.

Smithfield Foods Inc. has awarded its chief financial officer, Robert W. "Bo" Manly IV, a $500,000 bonus based on the success of "various financing projects." Manly also was awarded 50,000 shares of Smithfield stock "subject to performance conditions," according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The shares would be vested in two years.

Smithfield Foods Inc. on Thursday announced a $26.4 million loss for the second quarter of its fiscal year. The result marked its fourth consecutive quarterly loss.

An influential member of Smithfield Foods Inc.’s board of directors has resigned in protest of the company’s recently announced $250 million stock offering, Smithfield said Tuesday.

Still struggling with depressed hog prices, Smithfield Foods Inc. on Tuesday reported a $108 million loss for the first quarter of its fiscal year. It was the fourth time in the past five quarters that the world's largest pork processor and producer posted a loss. In June, Smithfield reported a $190 million loss for its 2009 fiscal year - its first annual loss since 1975.

WILLIAMSBURG Smithfield Foods Inc.'s packaged-meat business is generating robust earnings, but depressed prices for its live hogs continue to threaten the company's profitability, Smithfield's chief executive told shareholders Wednesday.