Meat + Poultry - February 2006 - 11

Business Notes
Sanderson Farms selects locations for new facilities
Sanderson Farms, Inc., Laurel, Miss.,
has selected sites in Waco and McLenNew
Masterin Texas for construction
nan counties
of a $70 million poultry processing
complex, which will include a plant,
wastewater treatment facility and
hatchery. The facilities will comprise a
complex with the capacity to process

1.2 million birds per week for the big
bird deboning market.
At full capacity, the complex will
employ approximately 1,300 people,
will require 150 contract growers,
and will be equipped to process and
sell 8.4 million pounds per week of
dressed poultry meat at full produc-

tion. The company expects to begin
construction of the facilities this
spring, with initial operation of the
new complex scheduled to begin in
May 2007.
Sanderson Farms also will expand its
feed mill in Easterly, Texas, and use its
feed milling capacity to satisfy the live
production needs associated with the
new complex.

F.S.I.S. announces
inspection fee increases

Tyson rolls out natural beef;
expanding bacon production

The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Food
Safety and Inspection Service published a final rule in the Federal
Register to raise the inspection fees
charged for voluntary inspection services, overtime, holiday inspection
services, and laboratory services.
The increase is to account for national and locality pay increases and
inflation. The final rule became effective on Feb. 13, 2006.
The agency has typically raised fees
on an annual basis. However, this final rule provides for annual increases
for the next three years. The agency
will continue yearly cost analyses to
determine if established fees are adequate. The fee increases (per hour,
per employee) are:

Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale, Ark.,
and Certified Angus Beef L.L.C.,
Wooster, Ohio, are teaming up to
provide Certified Angus Beef brand
natural beef, the two organizations
announced. Tyson is also offering
Star Ranch Natural Angus Beef.
"The CAB brand and Star Ranch
Angus Beef have been
successful programs for
Tyson and we're excited
to add natural product
lines to both," said Noel
White, group vice president of Tyson Fresh
Meats. "Consumer demand for natural beef is increasing
and we believe there's an opportunity
for us to grow with it."
According to Cattle Buyers Weekly, Petaluma, Calif., the "natural"
beef segment is almost a $1 billion
niche of the U.S. beef industry and
continues to grow.
Tyson-supplied CAB brand Natural
and Star Ranch Natural products will
be available to retail and foodservice
customers. The products are expected
to complement the traditional offering
in the retail meat case and also meet
the demands of natural foods retailers.
Tyson executives have also an-

Current
Base Rate

2006

2007

2008

$43.64 $47.79 $48.84 $49.93

O.T./Holiday $50.04 $56.40 $57.65 $58.93
Lab Services $61.80 $67.83 $69.31 $70.82

The annual fee for initial laboratory
accreditation and maintenance of the
accreditation is $4,000 for F.Y. 2006,
$4,500 for F.Y. 2007 and $4,500 for
F.Y. 2008.

nounced they plan to spend approximately $30 million to add bacon
production at its plant in Cherokee,
Iowa. Bacon operations at the facility are currently scheduled to begin
by late summer 2006
and will complement
production at the company's existing bacon
plants in Omaha and
Vernon, Texas. "We're
making this investment
to help meet continued
demand for refrigerated and precooked bacon," said Bill Lovette, senior group vice president of poultry
and prepared foods.
Because of the move to bacon production, ham operations at Cherokee
will be shifted to Tyson's facilities in
Concordia, Mo., and Buffalo, N.Y.
The company's efforts to enhance
its processed meats business also
include discontinuing operations at
two facilities in northeast Iowa. The
Independence and Oelwein plants,
which produce chopped ham and
sliced luncheon meats, will close effective March 17.

O MAX

T h e r e 's m o r e in it for y o u .

TECHNOLOGY
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Meat + Poultry - February 2006

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