National Beef Packing Co. LLC CEO and President Tim Klein announced a slate of management appointments, saying, "We have a succession plan in place which includes the continued development of our management staff to fulfill the leadership needs of an ever changing and growing company. These moves help strengthen National Beef's leadership today and ensure a strong pipeline of capable leaders in the years to come. We are fortunate to have the depth of experience and expertise within our company that makes it possible to plan for succession from within."

Effective today, the following corporate officers have been named to new positions:
* Terry Wilkerson has been named chief operating officer. Previously, he served as executive vice president of Beef Operations.
* Simon McGee has been named chief financial officer. Previously, he served as executive vice president, Corporate Strategy & Acquisitions.
* Jay Nielsen has been named chief accounting officer and treasurer. Previously, he served as chief financial officer.
* Carey Hoskinson has been named executive vice president, Beef Operations. Previously, he served as vice president and general manager of National Beef's Dodge City beef processing plant.

Source: National Beef Packing Co. LLC

Chicken plant files for bankruptcy

The owners of a closed chicken processing plant in Charles City have filed for bankruptcy. The Globe Gazette of Mason City reported that a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge on Tuesday ruled that Custom Poultry Processing LLC, which operated the plant, is entitled to be a debtor under Chapter 11 bankruptcy regulations.

The Bushman Family Farm plant closed on Jan. 21. It opened in November after an extensive renovation of the building that once housed All-States Quality Foods. It had employed up to 125 people and processed organic and antibiotic-free chickens. Duane Bushman, one of the plant's owners, has said the goal is to reopen the plant.

Sources: The Globe Gazette, Associated Press

Key figure in Mississippi beef plant scandal gets reduced sentence

Richard Hall, who was sentenced in 2006 to eight years in prison for his role in the failure of a Mississippi beef plant, has been given a reduced sentence. The beef plant, backed by the Mississippi Legislature and two state agencies, ran into trouble soon after Hall was given millions for the project, reports the Associated Press. He pleaded guilty to keeping $751,000 in public and corporate funds for himself.

In 2008, federal prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Neil Biggers to reduce Hall's sentence. Prosecutors said Hall had testified and assisted the government in several criminal and civil cases which have resulted in pleas of guilty or convictions and helped recoup money owed to the state of Mississippi related to be beef plant.

Biggers filed an order Tuesday reducing Hall's sentence to 64 months. He is the second person involved in the scandal to received reduced sentences this year. In early January, Nixon Cawood Jr., a former construction executive involved in the plant , had his sentence terminated for good behavior.

The beef plant opened in Oakland, Miss., in August 2004 but lasted less than three months. In January 2005, Hall defaulted on a $21-million loan to Community Bank and the project went into foreclosure.

Source: AP

Colorado food banks get 16,000-pound beef donation

In conjunction with the largest gathering of the nation's cattlemen and women for their annual meeting in Denver, Greeley-based JBS USA and cattle farmers and ranchers from around the country made the largest-ever donation and delivery of 16,000 pounds of beef and checkoff-funded nutrition information to Colorado's Feeding America Food Banks. Food Bank of the Rockies will divide and distribute the donation to five Feeding America member food banks throughout the state of Colorado.

By continuing to innovate and advance what they do, the entire beef industry is able to work together to provide nutritious food to feed a growing population around the world, reports the Beef Checkoff.

"Compared to 50 years ago, there are half as many farmers and ranchers today feeding a United States population that has more than doubled," said Debbie Lyons-Blythe, cattle farmer from Kansas in town for the 2011 Cattle Industry Convention. "Our population will only continue to grow, so farmers and ranchers like me remain committed to feeding a growing population, by providing an affordable supply of high-quality, nutritious beef so that all Americans can have enough food for a healthy, active lifestyle."

Source: Beef Checkoff

Worker safety conference to address critical workplace issues

Timely sessions on the most critical issues facing industry professionals will be featured at the American Meat Institute Foundation’s 2011 Conference on Worker Safety, Human Resources and the Environment, March 9-10, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center, Kansas City, Mo.

In addition, a new pre-conference workshop on electrical safety will be held on March 8 to offer attendees more value at a single conference. This one-day course is designed to train employers, management and supervisors about electrical safety that includes arc flash/blast protection for maintenance operations in an industrial or commercial environment. The course will discuss Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, NFPA 70E, best practices and related electrical hazards. The course will be presented from a non-electricians/non-engineers perspective.

On March 9-10, attendees will take advantage of a number of concurrent educational sessions tailored to the needs of those involved in worker safety, human resources and environmental issues.

Scheduled worker safety sessions include: OSHA Regulatory Update; Accidents and Near Misses: Case Studies; Proactive Safety Programs: Case Study; AMI Equipment Safety Checklist and Guidelines; Advanced Machine Guarding; and Emergency Action Plans and Environmental Impacts; Changes to OSHA Record Keeping; OSHA NEP Update: Hexavalent Chromium and Combustible Dust; Slips, Trips and Falls: Program and Process Update; and Ergonomics: Program and Process Update.

Scheduled human resources sessions include: OHSA Regulatory Update; Health Care Reform: What You Need to Know About the Changes Ahead; Return to Work Accommodation; Family Medical Leave Act Update; Americans With Disabilities Act Update; Language Diversity in the Workplace; Managing an Aging Workforce; and Motivating Employees for Culture Change.

Scheduled environmental sessions include: Regulatory and Legislative Update for the Environment; TMDL: Chesapeake Bay, Mississippi River Basin and Grand Lakes of the Cherokees; How to Comply? Case Studies in Nutrient Removal; Greenhouse Gases: Common Errors on Reporting and Calculations; Reduction Technologies; Emergency Action Plans and Environmental Impacts; Chlorides, Total Dissolves Solids and QUAT Update; Micronutrients in Anaerobic Treatment; AMIF Environmental Achievement Award Winner: Conservation; and Stormwater — Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC), E. coli and Erosion and Sediment Control.

AMI will be presenting the Environmental Achievement Awards, the Environmental Recognition Awards and the Worker Safety Awards during an awards ceremony and reception on the evening of March 9.

Registration fees for those registering before February 16, 2011, are $475 for AMI members, $825 for non-members and $415 each when three or more members register together. After February 16, 2010, registration rates increase to $525 for AMI members, $825 for non-members, $465 each when three or more members register together. A registration fee for the pre-conference workshop is $75.

For more information, registration and ongoing updates, visit the Events/Education section of www.meatami.com.

Source: AMI