CALIFORNIA : BRIEFLY : Also. . .
Associated Press
* The nation’s two largest hog growers are merging in a $290-million deal, a shakeout from last year’s rock-bottom producer pork prices. Smithfield Foods Inc. of Smithfield, Va., the world’s largest hog producer and processor, agreed to buy No. 2 producer Murphy Family Farms of Rose Hill, N.C. The purchase involves about 10 million shares of Smithfield Foods plus the assumption of about $170 million in Murphy Farms debt. Smithfield’s shares closed up 3 cents at $29 on Nasdaq.
