Prestage Farms, Clinton, N.C., announced plans to build a new, state-of-the-art fresh pork processing facility in Mason City, Iowa.
“We are excited to take the next logical step in vertical integration by building a new high tech pork plant in Mason City, Iowa,” says Dr. Ron Prestage, DVM. “We see this as an opportunity to secure the future of our family business, its employees and our contract growers, whether they are in the Carolinas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas or Iowa. We have been impressed with the help and support provided by local and state officials, the Iowa Pork Producers Association, NPPC and the National Pork Board. We have always believed that our family and employees must be engaged in the communities in which we operate and the industry we represent. Having produced market hogs in Iowa for the past dozen years, we believe Mason City is the right place for us to strategically build this new plant.”
The 650,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility will operate one shift, killing 10,000 hogs per day and employ as many as 1,000 people with future expansion possibilities to accommodate a second shift.
The $240 million plant will also utilize the latest innovations in processing and automation technology to help ensure that it is a world leader in food, employee and environmental safety.
Construction is set to begin in the summer of 2016 with operations beginning mid-2018.
