"Death on a Factory Farm"

By Jerry Bieszk

DALLAS (Reuters) - U.S. pork producers, already worried that high prices for their product may chase pinched shoppers to the chicken section, are facing another possible hit - an HBO special on animal cruelty in factory farming.

Producers at the annual Pork Industry Forum were discussing the documentary, "Death on a Factory Farm," which the network plans to premier on March 16 and show 20 times by April 1.

The documentary, based on a video taken by the Humane Farming Association, an animal rights group, "takes a harrowing look at animal cruelty in an Ohio factory farm as chronicled through undercover footage," the HBO website said.

Owners of the Ohio farm were charged with animal cruelty following six weeks of secret filming of events there.

The video also contains footage of the trial where representatives of the pork industry gave testimony detailing acceptable hog care practices, Tom Simon, co-producer of the documentary, told Reuters.

Steve Weaver, president of the National Pork Board, told the forum on Thursday that "our detractors and special interest groups have begun to focus on specific production practices and to challenge our industry on our commitment to animal care."

Weaver conceded that some producers do not adhere to the best industry practices, "and sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot."

But Cindy Cunningham of the National Pork Board said "there are 75,000 hog farms across the country and what happened on this farm is not common practice."