A new House of Raeford Farms feed mill in Simsboro, Louisiana is now in operation.
The new facility is a multi-story, concrete, state-of-the-art structure capable of producing 12,500 tons of feed on a weekly basis, which doubles the production capacity of the previous feed mill that was built in the 1950s and supported the company’s poultry complex in Arcadia, Louisiana.
“This operation will be a benefit to our workers, our growers, and our company,” the company stated.
“New technology in the mill will help production workers make more efficient and constructive use of their time. The new mill is spacious with an abundance of warehouse storage and room to work. Whole grain storage capacity will increase from 60,000 bushels to 650,000 bushels, finish feed capacity will increase from 900 tons to 5,524 tons, and pellet capacity will double. The larger inventory capacity will allow long, sustainable production runs yielding improved efficiency.”
Because of the increase in available inventory capacity, the feed mill will be able to keep up with the feed demand while operating fewer days. Rather than producing seven days a week, this mill operate five days of week. In doing so, House of Raeford will be afforded more time to do routine preventative maintenance procedures on the mill, as well as its fleet that hauls the feed.
Other expected benefits of the new mill include improved feed pellet quality and more consistent feed delivery.
The company’s plans to build the new feed mill were announced in 2019. At the time that announcement was made, House of Raeford estimated that it would invest $40 million in the project.
The family-owned House of Raeford Farms is one of the nation’s top ten largest chicken processors, having produced 29.2 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis during the past year. The company provides ready-to-cook and further processed chicken to the foodservice, retail, and export markets. Based in Rose Hill, North Carolina, House of Raeford operates facilities in Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina.
