8 most-popular agribusiness companies of 2016

These eight poultry, pig and feed companies ranked in the top 100 most-searched-for terms on WATTAgNet.com during the past year. Here's why.

(volare2004 | BigStockPhoto.com)
(volare2004 | BigStockPhoto.com)

WATTAgNet.com had more than 40,000 unique searches in 2016 for industry regulatory, health and disease issues; different countries; and agribusiness companies, among other terms. Eight pig, poultry and animal feed companies from around the world were among the top 100 most-searched-for terms on WATTAgNet over the course of the past year. See which companies made the list, and read about some of their industry happenings in 2016:

1. Tyson Foods

The world’s second-largest poultry producer, Tyson Foods, was the most-searched-for agribusiness company on WATTAgNet in 2016, after coming in second in 2015. Tyson ranked as the No. 1 poultry producer in the U.S. in WATT PoultryUSA’s exclusive March 2016 Top Companies survey. The company ended its fiscal 2016 with record results, reporting a net income of $392 million for the fourth quarter and net income of $1.77 billion for the year. Tyson Foods President Tom Hayes, who took over as CEO at the end of 2016, said the company is poised to meet the increasing consumer demands for no antibiotics ever (NAE) chicken. The year 2016 was not without its challenges for the company, though, as a stabbing at a Wilkesboro, North Carolina, poultry plant left one person injured and one dead.  

2. Alltech

Alltech moved up from fourth-top-searched agribusiness company in 2015 to second-top-searched in 2016. The year proved to be a big one for the company, which completed a number of acquisitions in the feed industry and opened a new crop science production facility in Brazil. Alltech started 2016 off by acquiring Canadian animal nutrition company Masterfeeds and continued its North American expansion with the acquisition of Ranch-Way Feeds, based in the Western U.S. The company also made moves globally, acquiring Keenan Systems, a farming solutions company in Ireland; followed by Netherlands-based aquatic feed solutions company, Coppens International; and Spanish crop solutions company, Solbiosur.

3. Cargill

Cargill, which was the most-searched-for company on WATTAgNet in 2015, slipped to the third position in 2016. However, the company’s position as world’s No. 1 feed producer remained steady for another year in a row, according to the October/November 2016 Feed International Top Companies report. Much like for the first two companies on this list, 2016 was a year of worldwide growth for Cargill. The company opened R&D facilities in North America and China focused on investing in the future of food to meet shifting consumer expectations. The company also announced a US$50 million expansion to its poultry operations in Thailand, creating 1,400 new jobs. In the Philippines, Cargill announced that it will open a new facility to manufacture premix feed solutions to serve medium to large livestock farms and feed millers. Near the end of 2016, a former Cargill accounting manager plead guilty to stealing $3.1 million and causing the company to lose at least $25 million.

4. JBS

The world’s top poultry company JBS was the fourth top-searched agribusiness company in 2016, up one spot from 2015, in a year of change. In 2016, JBS S.A. announced plans to reorganize its global business by forming a new entity, JBS Foods International, to handle all of its businesses outside Brazil and Seara Alimentos. Russ Colaco was named as chief financial officer for this new JBS Foods entity. Although on September 5, 2016, a federal judge ordered the Batista brothers, who serve as JBS CEO and chairman, to step away from their roles amid a fraud investigation, the two were reinstated following a September 14, 2016, meeting. Nearly a month later in October 2016, a Brazilian government agency vetoed the JBS reorganization plan; as a result, JBS Foods International filed for an initial public offering in the U.S., seeking to raise up to $500 million.

5. Perdue

New to the list is the fifth top-searched company on WATTAgNet, Perdue, which announced a number of changes in 2016. Unveiled mid-year, Perdue outlined its four-part commitments to animal care plan, involving: the wants and needs of the animals; farmers that raise the chickens; openness, transparency and trust; and a journey of continuous improvement. Other welfare-related announcements in 2016 included that Perdue would discontinue the practice of beak modification and that the company would end the routine use of animal-only antibiotics in chickens. In September of 2016, Jim Perdue, chairman, was interviewed about water quality issues in the Chesapeake Bay, saying that poultry production was not to blame for these issues, but rather the bay’s declining oyster population. 

6. BRF

Brazil-based BRF, the 2015 third-most-searched-for agribusiness company, fell to the sixth place for 2016. Continuing the theme of acquisitions, BRF acquired all shares of Alimentos Calchaquí Productos, a cold cut processor based in Argentina in the spring. In the fall, BRF completed its acquisition of the majority stake in Malaysian company FM Further Processing. With changing diets around the world, the company announced in July 2016 that it intends to create a new subsidiary, Sadia Halal, to put a more specialized focus on serving Muslim markets. BRF also had 33 of its chicken farms in Brazil accepted by Humane Farm Animal Care’s Certified Humane program. 

7. Pilgrim’s

It’s no wonder that the second-largest poultry producer in the U.S. in 2016 was also the seventh top-searched company on WATTAgNet with the announcement that Pilgrim’s reached a deal to acquire GNP Company from pig producer The Maschhoffs. In the U.S., Pilgrim’s announced plans early in the year to invest in upgrades at plants in Kentucky and West Virginia and build a new feed mill in Arkansas. In Mexico, Pilgrim’s CEO Bill Lovette announced during the third-quarter 2016 earnings call that it would expand value-added chicken production.

8. Sanderson Farms

Sanderson Farms holds the final spot on the top-searched agribusiness companies list for 2016 – a year that was both good and bad for the third-largest broiler company in the U.S. The company reported its net income nearly tripled in the fourth-quarter of fiscal 2016, ending the quarter at $76 million; while net sales for the full year were $2.816 billion. Sanderson Farms received the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association’s 2016 Clean Water Award at its Kinston, North Carolina, processing facility. Unfortunately, floods from Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina hard, claiming about 250,000 chickens from Sanderson Farms. But with a new plant coming online in 2017 and another that reached full capacity in 2016, Sanderson expects to process 11.1 percent more dressed poultry in fiscal 2017 than in 2016.

Page 1 of 33
Next Page