The Smithfield Packing Company Inc. plans to shift bone-in ham production from its Landover, Maryland, plant to its facilities in North Carolina and Kentucky.

The new facility will be over 325,000 square feet and employ more than 100 workers when in full operation.

A proposed beef processing plant located in Mason Valley, Nev., is one grading permit away from starting construction.

Jack Link's said the purchase of the plant, owned by Skylark Meats LLC, will allow it to increase production capacity to meet growing consumer demand.

The incentive package would give Sanderson Farms land valued at $1.2 million and annual cash payments worth nearly 40 percent of the property taxes paid by the company on all buildings, improvements and equipment each year for 15 years.

The plant will take poultry litter from Foster Farms and other Central Valley operations.

Expected to begin production in January 2014, the new plant will initially employ 360 people and has the potential of adding significantly more employees with a second shift.

Northern Beef Packers' Aberdeen, S.D., facility has yet to open, but the company's bills from its contractors continue to rise.

The upgrade is to assure that the company continues to lead the industry in quality control procedures by taking advantage of the latest and most advanced techniques available.

The investors behind the proposed beef plant in Tama, Iowa, are hoping to have the facility up and running by June, though the plant's owners say that renovations are still ongoing and that more startup capital is needed.

On demand Using cost-effective design solutions, food and beverage processing facilities can meet the rigorous performance demands required in a processing and production environment and, at the same time, focus on sustainability. Read More

On demand The need for food and beverage processors to drive down unit costs never ends. How can new/retrofitted plants be designed to optimize productivity? Read More

On demand Major food and beverage expansion projects often start with the preconception that a Greenfield plant is needed to achieve desired performance goals. Read More