The name on the plant has changed from Iowa Beef Packers to Iowa Beef Processors to IBP Inc. to Tyson Fresh Meats, but the beef processing plant in Dakota City, S.D., is celebrating its 50th year of operations. Sioux City Journal stated that the plant, which processes more beef than anywhere else in the world, celebrated its 50th anniversary with a picnic for employees and invited guests.
Plant operations began in February 1966, the same year Iowa Beef Packers moved its headquarters to Dakota City from Denison, Iowa, where the company was founded in 1961. A Dakota City plant that once covered 18 acres now has 41 acres under the roof and employs 4,500 people.