High winds hit an Opal Foods location in Roggen, Colorado, Saturday, June 6, at about 4:30 p.m. It is unclear if it was a tornado or straight-line winds, but as of Monday afternoon, the area was still under a high wind warning, according to the National Weather Service.
Two barns were severely damaged, while others were impacted to a lesser degree.
Brock Peterson, President of Opal Foods, -- the 13th largest egg producer in the United States -- arrived first thing Sunday morning and is still on the scene assessing the damage. He explained that it is too early to determine what the extent of the rebuilding process will be and that the company is still in the very beginning stages of evaluating the incident.
At this time, it is unknown how many birds the company lost. Peterson said that the two barns with the most damage were conventional houses.
He added that thankfully no employees were hurt, and emergency responders were not needed.
According to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, Opal Foods, an entity created by Visalia, California, private equity fund AGR Partners, was launched in May 2014 with the acquisition of Moark's Midwest operations. As of December 31, 2019, it had 7.79 million laying hens. The company has more than 250 employees, most of which are in the Neosho, Missouri, area. The company specializes in all-natural, cage-free, organic and all-natural eggs with omega-3s. Opal Foods also provides Land O'Lakes with brown eggs.
