No. 3-ranked Sanderson Farms has grown from a small general feed and seed business founded in 1947 to an integrated poultry processor, producing 86.60 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken weekly in 2018, or an increase of about 5 percent from the previous year.
After reviewing the results of a study Sanderson commissioned in 2018, the company announced in November 2018 that it would discontinue the use of antibiotics considered medically important to humans for disease prevention in its live poultry operations by March 2019. This includes no longer using gentamicin and virginiamycin for disease prevention in its live operations.
Like many of the other top poultry companies, Sanderson made significant investments in its operations, including a $225 million project at a complex near Tyler, Texas. The project includes a new feed mill, hatchery, poultry processing plant and wastewater treatment facility. The company reported in February 2019 that operations at the new complex have begun, and it will reportedly be able to process nearly 375 million pounds of dressed poultry meat per year at full capacity, which is anticipated in 2020.
