Joe F. Sanderson Jr., CEO of Sanderson Farms, predicted that the amount of broiler meat produced in the United States will grow by 9.7 percent by 2021.
Sanderson Farms itself is adding to the expansion of the broiler industry, with a new plant online in St. Pauls, North Carolina, and another new plant under construction in Tyler, Texas.
But other companies are also in a state of expansion, which will add up to a 9.7 percent industry growth, according to Sanderson. Of that new production, about 5.3 percent will be part of the big bird segment, and 4.4 percent will be in the tray pack category.
Growth in the big bird category
A poultry plant operated in Teachey, North Carolina, by House of Raeford Farms has been out of operation since it was destroyed by a fire in February. The company is now in the process of rebuilding that plant, with hopes of the new plant being operational in the summer of 2018. Sanderson Farms and Mountaire Farms have been working with House of Raeford during the interim period to process birds that were being grown for House of Raeford.
Other big bird expansion projects pointed out by Sanderson include Mountaire Farms, which has acquired and is renovating the former Townsends facility in Siler City, North Carolina; Simmons Foods, which is opening a new plant in Benton County, Arkansas; Wayne Farms, which is expanding its plant in Enterprise, Alabama; and Peco Foods, which has a new facility in Pocahontas, Arkansas.
Growth in the tray pack category
Sanderson said its new plant under construction in Tyler will add to the overall tray pack production increases.
Lincoln Premium Poultry is building a new plant in Fremont, Nebraska, which is expected to be operational in 2019.
Also adding to the increase in tray pack poultry production will be the new facility Tyson Foods is planning for Humboldt, Tennessee, also expected to be operational in 2019; and the new Bell & Evans plant, which the company says will open in 2020.
