The world’s largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods has now moved 87 percent of their pregnant sows out of gestation crates to group housing. The company is also on track to eliminate all gestation crates by the end of this year. HSUS Vice President of Farm Animal Protection Josh Balk says Smithfield’s decision is a step in the right direction.

He says the best move for individual pork producers is to also provide group housing for their animals.

Balk says consumers are demanding that farm animals be housed humanely and gestation crates don’t meet those requirements.

Smithfield instituted a ten-year plan in 2007 that called for moving all their sows to group housing and eliminating gestation crates.