SMITHFIELD First they said they'd get rid of a symbol of cruelty for animal-rights groups within a decade. Then, with the onset of bad times, they dropped the target date. Now it's back on again. Officials at Smithfield Foods Inc. have reinstated a self-imposed deadline to get rid of all gestation crates for pregnant sows on its farms by 2017, its president and CEO said Thursday.

SMITHFIELD
It didn't break any records this time, but the results were still impressive, the CEO said.
Smithfield Foods Inc. on Thursday reported net income of $120.7 million, or 74 cents a share, for the second quarter of its fiscal year. That was down 16 percent from the same period a year ago, when Smithfield earned a record second-quarter profit of $143.7 million, or 86 cents a share.

Smithfield Foods Inc. rebuffed a request Wednesday from the Humane Society of the United States to inspect records on its plans to eliminate gestation crates.
"There is no legal basis for this demand made by HSUS to Smithfield," the company said in a statement. "We believe this is another unsubstantiated attempt by this organization to support its cause."

PORTSMOUTH
Smithfield Foods Inc. will close its Portsmouth plant - once the nation's largest hot-dog-making facility - in the first half of 2013, eliminating 425 jobs, the company announced Thursday.

It's all about timing.

An animal rights group on Wednesday filed a complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Smithfield Foods Inc., accusing the pork company of “disseminating false or deceptive information” about its treatment of animals.