The State of Missouri has reached a settlement with Smithfield Foods and Premium Standard Farms (PSF).
Attorney General Chris Koster says the settlement provides a firm schedule under which modern technology will be installed in hog barns operated by the company, and Koster says the agreement also includes $1 million in voluntary payments by the company. PSF will pay $100,000 each to the local county school funds for the counties of Gentry, Daviess, Mercer, Sullivan and Putnam. PSF will pay a total of $500,000 to the county road funds for the following amounts: Daviess ($90,000), Gentry ($90,000), Grundy ($50,000), Mercer ($90,000), Putnam ($90,000) and Sullivan ($90,000).
Considering the penalties, the Missouri AG is confident PSF will meet the deadlines set in the settlement, $2,000 per day, per barn, for the first 30-days of noncompliance, the penalty goes to $4,000 for the next 30 days of noncompliance and then $6,000 per day for 60 days and beyond of noncompliance.
“Now, no company is going to eat those kinds of penalties when the other option is simply to apply the modern technologies to the barn as required,” said Koster.
Premium Standards Farm President Bill Homan calls the time-line aggressive, but says the company will install the $7.5 million in equipment on time. And Homan says the settlement should finally resolve the dispute which he says put 1,100 jobs in jeopardy.
“I think it is just a great bit of news for our employees and for the economy here in north Missouri,” Homan said.
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