Russia Halts Pork from U.S.

Russia is halting pork shipments from nine U.S. pork facilities, including plants owned by Smithfield Foods and Cargill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday on its web site. Among the plants affected were the Smithfield facility in North Carolina, a Farmland Foods unit in Missouri and a Farmland Distribution unit in Nebraska, the USDA said. Russia, the fourth-largest buyer of U.S. pork last year, also canceled shipments from Cargill facilities in Illinois and Iowa.