Sanderson Farms said today that it is delaying construction of a second poultry-processing plant in North Carolina due in part to rising feed costs.

The Mississippi company has been scouting sites in Nash County and elsewhere since last year.

The $106 million plant was expected to employ up to 1,500 people. It would be capable of processing 1.2 million chickens served by restaurants and other food service companies.

"While the company's balance sheet is strong and it remains committed to a second North Carolina complex, the company believes it is prudent to be conservative with its working capital and balance sheet at this time," the company said this morning during its announcement of first quarter earnings.

Sanderson posted a larger than expected loss of $33.6 million, or $1.52 a share, in the three months that ended Jan. 31.

Lower poultry prices, weak demand from the food service industry and significant increase in feed costs led to the loss, Sanderson CEO Joe F. Sanderson, Jr. said in a release.

"While retail demand for chicken has remained steady, we have continued to see weak food service demand, and we expect this trend will remain until the national unemployment rate improves," he said.

"Consumers are simply not dining out as frequently and restaurant traffic has remained under pressure. We also experienced a significant increase in feed costs during the quarter, compared with a year ago, and this affected our profitability."

Sanderson's proposed second plant has divided Nash County.
 

Supporters of a proposed chicken plant in Nash County are creating their own nonprofit to advocate for the project.

At an event in Rocky Mount this morning, local business leaders announced a new non-profit and previewed an advertising campaign that was created to help bring Sanderson Farms to Nash County.

The group says Sanderson's plant will create a $5.5 billion economic impact in the region and create more than 2,000 jobs.

Opponents of the Sanderson project earlier created their own group, Nash County Landowners Association, which hired a Raleigh PR firm to to do polling and messaging.

The city of Wilson is contributing $1 million to fight the project.

A group against a proposed chicken plant in Nash County has hired a Raleigh PR firm to help construct its message.

Campaign Connections, a firm run by PR veteran Brad Crone that is best known for its work with politicians, has begun polling and messaging work on behalf of the Nash County Landowners Association.

The landowners are working with both the City and the County of Wilson to pay the tab, said Con Ward, chairman of the landowners group.

"We recognize this is a David and Goliath battle," Ward said of the decision to engage a PR firm. "They can hep us create better strategies."

Sanderson Farms, a publicly traded company based in Mississippi, has been working with Nash County officials in an effort to build a new plant off I-95 in southeastern Nash County.

Sanderson Farms search for a site for its next poultry-processing plant continues even as local opposition to the project goes to court to try to stop it.

The Mississippi company has not purchased any property and is still in discussions with the state Department of Commerce, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and local officials in Nash and Wayne counties, said Mike Cockrell, Sanderson's chief financial officer.

"We are still doing our due diligence," he said this week. "We haven't purchased any property yet."

The Nash County Board of Commissioners recently rezoned a site in southern Nash County that it hopes Sanderson will select.

Sanderson needs about 1,000 acres where it can build a processing plant and a spray field for the plant's treated wastewater.

The city of Wilson and more than 30 nearby property owners have filed a lawsuit against Nash County alleging that the rezoning violated state laws. 

Sanderson had originally focused its search on Wayne County but later expanded it farther north into Nash County.
 

Sanderson Farms, which is preparing to open one chicken-processing complex in Eastern North Carolina and looking for a site to put a second facility, reported weaker third-quarter sales and profit this morning.

The Mississippi-based company blamed higher production costs, and hot temperatures, which make it harder to for chickens to gain weight.

But executives told analysts on a conference call that the company is shipping chicken meat to Russia again. That country was a major chicken importer but banned U.S. imports last winter over safety concerns. CEO Joe Sanderson said he expects demand to be "spectacular."

Sanderson's shares rose on the report, climbing $2.64 to close at $45.80.

Sanderson Farms, the Mississippi company planning to build two chicken processing plants in Eastern North Carolina, reported quarterly results that beat Wall Street expectations.

The company's processing complex in Kinston is expected to open in January with about 500 employees. Eventually, the complex is expected to employ 1,500.

Meanwhile, company officials continue to negotiate over state and local incentives for a proposed facility in Goldsboro that Sanderson announced in March. That deboning factory is expected to employ up to 1,100 people.

North Carolina is getting a few more chicken jobs.

Mountaire Farms of Arkansas, which already employs more than 2,400 workers in this state, plans to expand its processing operation in Robeson County and add 51 worker over the next three years.

The Lumber Bridge facility now processes more than 100 million chickens a year and produces 780 pounds of chicken products annually. Mountaire also has operations in Chatham, Iredell, Montgomery and Stanly counties.

Last year, an ammonia leak at the Lumber Bridge plant killed one worker and injured three others, leading state regulators to cite Mountaire with nearly two dozen workplace safety violations.

The new jobs will pay average annual wages of $27,553, Gov. Bev Perdue's office announced today. Mountaire will receive a $150,000 grant from the state to create the jobs. The Robeson County facility is located about 100 miles south of Raleigh.

Sanderson Farms plans to sell 2 million shares to pay for construction of its poultry processing plant under construction in Kinston and another new facility planned near Goldsboro.

The Mississippi-based company last summer revived plans for the $121 million processing campus in Kinston, left, including a new feed mill, poultry processing plant and hatchery.

On Monday, the company also announced plans to build a $94 million bird deboning facility near Goldsboro. That operation could employ up to 1,100 people and is scheduled to open in 2012.

North Carolina continues to court and capture chicken jobs.

Townsends Inc., a Delaware poultry producer, plans to expand its Mocksville facility and create 103 new jobs over the next three years, Gov. Bev Perdue's office announced this morning.

The expansion follows the news in late July that Sanderson Farms would revive plans to build a poultry processing complex in Kinston that's expected to employ 1,500 people when it reaches full capacity. Construction began in August and the complex is expected to open in early 2011, said Sanderson spokesman Mike Cockrell.

North Carolina is home to hundreds of chicken farmers and dozens of processing plants. The industry employs more than 25,000 people across the state.

Sanderson Farms is reviving plans to build a $121.4 million chicken-processing plant in Kinston, giving an economic boost to Lenoir County.

The Mississippi company had postponed plans for the plant in June 2008 amid soaring feed and fuel costs.

The complex will include a new feed mill, poultry processing plant and hatchery. It's expected to employ 1,500 people, require 130 contract growers and process 1.25 million birds a week. Construction is expected to start later this summer.

"We are pleased that better overall market conditions, our financial performance and a strong balance sheet have put us in a position to continue to grow our company," said CEO Joe F. Sanderson Jr.