Sanderson Farms and Amick Farms both received 10-year ad valorem tax exemptions for operations in Laurel, Mississippi, following a recent vote from the Jones County Board of Supervisors.
According to a report from the Laurel Leader-Call, tax exemptions were approved for not only the two poultry companies, but also for Dunn Roadbuilders, Howard Industries, Laurel Machine & Foundary and Morgan Bros. Millwork. County Chief Administrative Officer Danielle Ashley said all of those companies met the necessary requirements for the exemptions.
Sanderson Farms, which was founded in 1947, is headquartered in Laurel, and an estimated 450 people work at the corporate office. Sanderson Farms also operates a poultry complex in Jones County. However, Cargill and Continental Grain Company in 2021 offered to acquire Sanderson Farms and merge it with Wayne Farms, a poultry integrator owned by Continental Grain. However, that proposed transaction has not yet closed.
Amick Farms’ history with Jones County and Laurel does not date back as far. Following the announcement that there was an intent to merge Sanderson Farms and Wayne Farms, Wayne Farms opted to divest of its complex in Laurel, which includes live production, a hatchery, feed mill, manufacturing and production facilities. Wayne Farms CEO Clint Rivers, who has been selected to lead the combined company, described the sale of the complex to Amick as “an important step in completing the proposed transaction with Sanderson Farms.”
The sale of Wayne Farms’ Laurel complex was finalized in October 2021.
Amick Farms, which also operates facilities in South Carolina and Maryland, is a U.S. subsidiary of OSI Group, the world’s 35th largest poultry company. OSI also operates Australia’s Turosi and China’s Otto & Sons Weihai. According to the WATTPoultry.com Top Companies Database, Sanderson Farms, Wayne Farms and Amick Farms presently rank third, seventh and 11th among U.S. poultry companies, respectively.
