Smithfield Foods: No position on slaughterhouse ban

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — One longtime Sioux Falls business is staying out of the slaughterhouse fight.  

Smithfield Foods, owners and operators of the biggest hog processing plant in Sioux Falls, told KELOLAND News the company has no position on the slaughterhouse ordinance voters are weighing in on. 

Jim Monroe, Smithfield Foods’ vice president of corporate affairs, said the company has no plans to build a new facility in Sioux Falls.  

“Our Sioux Falls facility has played a major role in our mission to provide good food the right way,” Monroe said in an emailed statement. “This remains our focus and we are committed to building on our long history of economic and philanthropic contributions to the Sioux Falls community.” 

Formerly known as John Morrell, Smithfield Foods’ Sioux Falls hog processing plant on Weber Ave. near downtown Sioux Falls has been operating since the early 1900s. 

The Sioux Falls slaughterhouse ordinance, if passed, would ban new slaughterhouses from being built and permitted to operate inside the city limits of Sioux Falls. It would not pertain to any existing slaughterhouses constructed and operating, at the existing site, before the effective date of the measure. 

Proponents started this ballot measure in response to Wholestone Farms’ announcement to build a hog processing facility on 175 acres near Interstate 229 and Benson Road. Wholestone Farms has constructed a “custom slaughterhouse” at the site to open before the initiated measure goes into effect. 

Proponents say slaughterhouse’s impact on the city will be negative and want to see them operate outside of the city limits. 

Opponents have said the ban would hurt future businesses from coming to Sioux Falls and harm the agriculture industry and other industries in the area. 

Smithfield did not say if it has any plans to expand at its current location if the ballot measure were to pass, which would limit expansion to the existing location or outside of city limits.

 Early voting is underway, voter registration ends Oct. 24 and Election Day is Nov. 8.