Cargill Pork officials say they will change the way the sows used to produce pork are housed.

The company, based in Wichita, said Monday it will eliminate individual stalls for sows and use only group housing by the end of next year. The company also says it will require farms with which it contracts to use group housing by the end of 2017.

The Wichita Eagle reports animal activists have been pushing to change the hog industry’s practice of housing sows in individual steel stalls that are too small for the animals to turn around.

Cargill spokesman Mike Martin says the industry is moving toward group housing because animal-rights groups have convinced the public it is better for the animals.