The agricultural world changed November 19, 2020, and few in our business noticed.
Murphy-Brown, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, lost a major case on November 19, 2020. With Thanksgiving activities and election allegations, little attention was paid to this loss other than a few environmental groups and farm publications (full case summary here).
Federal judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, appointed by President Reagan, indicted the entire industrialized hog industry, saying, “It is past time to acknowledge the full harms that the unreformed practices of hog farming are inflicting.”
Judge Stephanie Thacker, an Obama appointee, wrote the majority opinion. Judge Steven Agee, appointed by President George W. Bush, defended Smithfield and Murphy-Brown, indicating he would have ordered a new trial.