Moark L.L.C. has sold its remaining egg farms in Maine to Hillandale Farms, according to a report.
Town managers in Winthrop and Leeds, Maine, where the former egg farms are located, say they believe the sites no longer have chickens on them. The other egg farm is located in Turner, Maine.
The farms formerly were leased three years ago from Jack DeCoster for 10 years with the option to buy. It is unclear whether Moark has sold its lease or had purchased the farms outright.
Prior to the acquisition, Hillandale Farms had around 9.0 million hens and was the seventh largest U.S. egg producer in the February 2015 Egg Industry magazine Top Egg Company survey.
Moark is the layer division of Land O'Lakes Cooperative. Entering 2015, Moark had sold its Midwest and Western operations and had 6.5 million hens housed at its remaining farms in Maine and Connecticut. Industry sources report that in addition to Moark's farms in Maine, Hillandale also purchased Moark's Borzah, Conneticutt operations.
This transaction completes Land O'Lakes planned exit from the layer industry. The cooperative had announced its intention to leave the layer industry in 2013 and had been seeking a buyer since that time.
When this acquisition is completed, Hillandale Farms will certainly move up into the top five egg producers based on the number of layers housed.
