Farbest Foods plans to expand and update its turkey plant in Huntingburg, Indiana, with construction on the project expected to begin in September.
The planned project is actually a second phase of a plant upgrade that was completed in 2018, reported the Dubois County Free Press.
Farbest Foods President Ted Seger and Chief Financial Officer Jarod Morrison recently met with the Huntingburg Common Council, in which Morrison outlined the company’s plans for the $32.5 investment. He explained that Farbest Foods intends to add automation and modernizing the layouts of existing processing lines in multiple parts of the plant. A new building will also be added.
According to Morrison, the automation would lead to the elimination of about 22 positions. However, he pointed out that the plant has more than 22 job vacancies at the present time.
“This is really about helping us combat the challenges of filling the positions,” Morrison told the council.
He also noted that the plant upgrade will help protect 640 jobs at the plant, making them “easier and safer.”
Farbest Foods is seeking to purchase $1 million in economic development bonds to fund the project, with the debt service to be paid down by the incremental increase in taxes from Dubois County’s tax increment financing (TIF) portion of the improvements. Those bonds will be paid from the TIF district until February 2034. That matter will further be discussed by the Huntingburg Economic Development Commission and Huntingburg Economic Redevelopment Commission of August 17.
Farbest Foods, the fourth largest turkey producer in the United States, is headquartered in Hungingburg. Founded in 1982, the company supplies raw, fresh and frozen turkey products to brand-name, value added further processors around the world.
According to the WATTPoultry.com Top Companies Database, Farbest Foods slaughtered 630 million pounds of live turkeys during the past year.
