FREMONT, NEB. — Wholestone Farms, based in Fremont, Neb., and Prestage Foods of Iowa announced a joint venture to combine hog processing operations and streamline sales of pork. 

The newly farmer-owned group will be called Prestage Wholestone LLC. 

“We are excited and honored to partner with the Prestage family,” said Luke Minion chairman of Wholestone Farms. “This is an extremely important next step for the 200-plus farm families that own Wholestone Farms. We look forward to demonstrating the benefits of this partnership to our customers, consumers and our owners.” 

The new venture will operate two plants with a daily single-shift harvest capacity of approximately 21,000 head daily. 

“The Prestage family is excited to partner with Wholestone Farms, a company comprised of like-minded American farmers and producers that reflect our collective core values from farm to market,” said Ron Prestage, a family representative for Prestage.

Prestage Wholestone will begin operations by Jan. 1, 2024. 

During the last two years, Wholestone has continued to move forward with a proposed pork slaughtering and processing facility in Sioux Falls, SD. 

Minion shared what the joint venture will mean for that ongoing project.

“The Prestage Wholestone joint venture is the right business decision for our farmers right now," Minion said. "We love the Sioux Falls community and our property there.  We continue to develop our business options for the Sioux Falls site and will communicate specific information when available.”

The company dealt with resistance and litigation from local residents of Sioux Falls.

During the 2022 mid-term elections, the city of Sioux Falls narrowly rejected an ordinance that would have prohibited the construction or permitting of new slaughterhouses within Sioux Falls, SD, by a margin of 52%-48%.