Garner-based Butterball will close its turkey facility in Longmont, Colorado at the end of the year and is seeks to lower operating costs in the face of rising feed prices.

"After long and careful consideration, amid record high ingredient costs, our company has come to the conclusion that we must take these steps in order to improve our overall effectiveness.” said Rod Brenneman, Butterball's CEO.

Brenneman said government ethanol subsidies and record high fuel prices for much of 2010 and 2011 contributed to a major increase in operating costs at the plant.

Brenneman took over as CEO earlier this month.

He is a 22-year veteran of Seaboard Corp. of Kansas, the holding company that acquired a 50 percent stake in Butterball in December. Maxwell Farms owns the other half of Butterball.

Brenneman warned in an interview earlier this month that Butterball, like all poultry and pork producers, needs to be more efficient and lower operating costs.

Pfizer announced this morning that it may sell its animal-health business, which employs more than 250 people in the Triangle.

The world's largest drugmaker will consider a sale or spin-off of its animal-health and nutrition divisions to focus more resources on expanding its pharmaceutical business.

The New York corporation could pick different strategies for each division, and doesn't expect to make any more announcements until sometime in 2012. Any transaction could take up to two years to complete.

The animal-health poultry division employs about 250 people in Durham and 20 more in Laurinburg.

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.

Butterball could have a new parent before Thanksgiving.

The world's largest turkey company, which moved its corporate headquarters to Garner in 2008, is a joint venture of Maxwell Farms and Smithfield Foods.

But Smithfield, which owns 49 percent of Butterball, isn't happy with the arrangement.

On Thursday, the company announced that it has offered about $200 million to buy Maxwell's 51 percent stake. If Maxwell isn't interested in selling, Smithfield plans to unload its share of Butterball. Smithfield wants a decision by mid-September.

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.

Beyond standing back in open-mouthed awe, I have nothing I can add to this -- it pretty much speaks for itself. So rise and shine and play it loud.

(Thanks, Brian.)

Perdue Farms is investing $3.7 million to increase production at hatcheries in Kenly and Salisbury.

The expansion doesn't mean many new jobs — only about five new positions are planned at each facility — but can be taken as a sign of the company's interest in North Carolina.

But North Carolina's gain will by Maryland's loss. The company will close its hatcheries in Showell and Bishopville, Md., eliminating 36 jobs. Equipment from those facilities will move to Salisbury. The hatchery in Kenly, which is about 50 miles from Raleigh in Johnston County, will get new equipment and ventilation systems.

The changes will not go into effect until early next year, according to a statement from the company.

Privately-held Perdue ranks third in sales in the poultry industry. It employs about 21,000 people and has contracts with 2,253 independent farm families.

Sam Talley, a farmer in Siler City, is struggling to make ends meet after Pilgrim's Pride ended two contracts, cutting Talley's poultry income in ... more