Since 2005 our Protein Group has withstood considerable adversity.

In our pork operations, we undertook a major restructuring to consolidate operations, improve efficiency, reduce currency risk and increase our competitiveness on a global level. This was the first focus of effort in the journey of adjusting to the new currency environment because of the immediate impact of the stronger currency on this segment of our business. Our team has done an excellent job and we are now seeing increased earnings that flow directly from the success of this initiative.

In our prepared meats business, where restructuring efforts were put on hold during the product recall in 2008, we have a similar opportunity to substantially increase earnings by consolidating our operations and investing in fewer large-scale, modern plants. Scale and efficiency are some of the biggest determinants of profitability in the prepared meats business.

In 2010, our Protein Group, which includes both the Meat Products Group and Agribusiness Group results, delivered significantly higher earnings, benefiting from strong performance in our fresh pork and poultry operations. In our prepared meats business, we implemented price increases that increased margins, but lower volumes reduced earnings compared to the prior year. Our Management team is focused on improving results through a combination of price increases to offset raw material costs,

manufacturing cost reductions, and sales and marketing strategies that strengthen category management and build consumer demand.

Our Agribusiness Group provides essential services to our meat facilities, including a supply of high-quality hogs and recycling of by-products into commercial agricultural and biodiesel products. These operations benefited from higher hog prices and reduced feed costs in 2010.