WASHINGTON – During the recently held Sanderson Farms’ annual investor day meeting, chief executive Joe Sanderson told investors his company would like to move forward with plans to build a big-bird deboning plant in North Carolina – providing certain conditions are met, according to the Oct. 21 edition of the Washington Report from the National Chicken Council.

Before breaking ground on a new plant, Sanderson Farms plans to pay down debt. Also, it will be necessary for feed costs to come down and political wrangling concerning the location of the plant would need to be resolved, Sanderson said.


Fall 2012 is the earliest the company foresees beginning construction, Sanderson said. He added the Rocky Mount, NC, site is the first choice for building a second North Carolina plant. However, the company is considering alternative locations. Wilson County, which opposed construction of the plant, has filed an appeal challenging a court victory by Nash County that could take up to a year to be heard, he said.