Mountaire Farms Inc.

Mountaire Farms Inc. operates a poultry slaughter and processing establishment at 55 Hosier St. in Selbyville, Sussex County, Delaware. The plant holds federal establishment numbers M667 and P667 and reports poultry processing and poultry slaughter activities to USDA FSIS, which classifies it in its large size category. The grant of inspection date on file is September 15, 2020, and the FSIS slaughter volume category is 5.0, the highest listed tier. No custom-exempt activity is reported to FSIS.

The company website describes Mountaire Farms as an agricultural food production and processing company with facilities in Arkansas, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, employing close to 10,000 people. It states the company is the fourth largest chicken company in the United States and produces about 3 billion pounds of chicken per year. The site says Mountaire was founded in 1914 by Guy Cameron, that his son Ted and grandson Ronnie later joined, and that Ronnie remains Chairman of the Board. The website reports the company is still family owned. A yellow pages listing states that Mountaire Farms of Delmarva has headquarters in Selbyville and was originally named H&H Poultry before being acquired in 1977.

Company-level product information covers wholesale, retail, and export channels. The website says hand-deboned jumbo bird operations in Delaware and North Carolina deliver fresh and frozen products to 46 states daily, that Mountaire is the leading producer of private label chicken products in the United States, and that products are exported to more than 60 countries. The website does not describe a public retail store, custom processing for individual farmers, or hours at the Selbyville plant, and those details beyond the federal record are not on file. A 2021 company page for Selbyville references an Employee Sales Trailer with Thursday pickup from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m., described in the context of an employee benefit rather than public retail.

The plant reports no custom-exempt activity to FSIS, and neither the federal record nor the website describes custom slaughter, cut and wrap, booking, minimums, or fees for individual farmers hauling animals. The website describes a contract grower model instead, stating that 100 percent of Mountaire broiler chickens are raised on family-owned farms and referencing pages for poultry growers and for feed mills and grain elevators. The company also states that its Prime Quality Grain division has offered free grain safety and engulfment training for farmers and first responders on the Delmarva Peninsula. Growers or grain sellers interested in working with the company would need to contact it directly, as terms are not stated in the sources.

Mountaire Farms Inc. operates under a federal grant of inspection, so product from this plant can be sold anywhere in the United States, which matters if you sell online or across a state line. FSIS does not list a custom-exempt activity for this plant.

The sources do not describe a public retail counter, halves or quarters, bundles, home delivery, or online ordering at the Selbyville establishment. Household buyers would most likely encounter this plant's output indirectly, since the website states Mountaire is the dominant private label supplier in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets and produces tray pack retail products for grocery customers. A company page for Selbyville dated 2021 mentions an Employee Sales Trailer with Thursday pickup windows, which appears to be an employee benefit rather than general public sales. Consumer sales channels beyond that are not stated.

If you are buying a half or quarter animal, the plant is where the animal is processed; the farm sells you the animal. Read how to buy a half cow for the sequence and the math.