When the voting ended in August 2018, the brand new CS Beef Processors plant in Kuna, Idaho, stood as the winner of The National Provisioner’s 2018 Plant of the Year award.

It was a tight race to the final day, but after the clock ticked to Aug. 1, 2017, and voting ended, Smithfield Foods’ hometown plant — the Smithfield, Va., processing facility — stood as the winner of The National Provisioner’s 2017 Plant of the Year award.

Voters for The National Provisioner’s Plant of the Year award this year faced a serious challenge, as each of the nominees — all processing facilities visited for cover stories from June 2015 through May 2016 — made a very strong case for winning the annual award.

For the fourth year, The National Provisioner has had a bevy of top-notch options for voters in its annual Plant of the Year competition — all the processing facilities that our editorial staff visited for cover stories from June 2014 through May 2015 were nominated.