Farmer John is the largest pork producer in California. It is currently owned by Smithfield Foods and was previously operated by Hormel. It sells under the consumer brand name Farmer John. Smithfield claims to treat its animals with the “utmost care and respect” and to prioritize their well-being, health and comfort at every stage of their lives.

Multiple investigations into Farmer John by Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) have revealed systematic cruelty and disease. In 2016, investigators with Direct Action Everywhere documented

• Filthy, crowded conditions, with pigs packed tightly into barren pens and covered nose to tail in feces and dirt
• Pigs with open wounds, abscesses, and prolapses
• Emaciated piglets fighting for food
• Piles of dead piglets

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A subsequent investigation in 2020 found similar conditions. In no instance was there any evidence any of the pigs were even given access to the outdoors.

In addition to animal welfare issues, investigations at Farmer John have revealed serious public health concerns. In 2016, investigators documented pigs being fed a pellet containing Carbadox, which is carcinogenic even at trace levels, as well as several types of antibiotics. Swabs taken from open wounds tested positive for an antibiotic resistant form of Staphylococcus aureus and for Campylobacter, both of which can cause fatal illness in humans. In 2020, fecal samples taken from the facility tested positive for a coronavirus.

Prior to 2023, Farmer John sent pigs to the Farmer John slaughterhouse in Los Angeles County. Undercover footage obtained by Direct Action Everywhere in 2022 from inside the gas chambers used to supposedly render pigs unconscious before slaughter showed pigs screaming, gasping for air, thrashing violently and desperately trying to escape as they slowly suffocated.

The Farmer John slaughterhouse was fined over $100,000 by state regulators when hundreds of workers tested positive during the pandemic. At the time, it was the largest outbreak at any nonresidential facility in Los Angeles County. At least one worker died. In 2022, the slaughterhouse paid over $200,000 in civil penalties to settle alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, and they have been accused of polluting the nearby Los Angeles River for years. In 2022, after years of advocacy, Smithfield announced they would close the slaughterhouse in 2023.

You can see the locations of Farmer John's California factory farms in the map below.