Amick Farms LLC

Amick Farms LLC operates establishment P519 at 525 N Mississippi Ave in Laurel, Jones County, Mississippi. The plant reports poultry slaughter and poultry processing to USDA FSIS and is classified as a large establishment, with a slaughter volume category of 5.0 on the FSIS scale. The grant of inspection date on file is October 26, 2021. No custom-exempt activity is reported, which means the plant is not listed as processing animals for return to individual owners.

The company website states Amick Farms was founded in June 1941 in Batesburg, South Carolina, by A.D. "Chick" Amick, and that Bill Amick later expanded the business. OSI Group acquired Amick Farms in August 2006. The site lists four integrated poultry production complexes, in Batesburg, South Carolina; Hurlock, Maryland; Laurel, Mississippi; and Ward, South Carolina, and says the Laurel facility was purchased in 2021, matching the year of the grant of inspection on file. The company reports more than 3,700 team members, more than 500 family farm partners, and over 1.4 billion pounds of chicken products annually, distributed in more than 40 states for retail, foodservice and industrial markets. Each plant is described as supported by its own feed mill and hatchery, with onsite USDA inspectors providing oversight.

This is a vertically integrated commodity chicken operation rather than a local butcher shop. The website describes company-owned hatcheries and feed mills and contract growing by family farm partners, and directs distributor inquiries to a sales line at the Batesburg, South Carolina headquarters. No retail counter, store hours, custom slaughter service, or direct-to-household sales are described for the Laurel location in the sources on file. Details beyond the federal record and the company website are not yet on file.

The Laurel plant reports no custom-exempt activity to FSIS, so there is no indication it processes individually owned animals for return to the owner. The relationship the company describes with farmers is contract production: Amick Farms says it partners with independent family farms to raise pullets, breeders and broilers, and also contracts with crop farmers for wheat, barley and corn used in its feed. The website lists chickenfarmer@amickfarms.com for pullet, breeder and broiler farm inquiries and cropfarmer@amickfarms.com for crop inquiries. One note of inconsistency: the contact page describes company facilities in South Carolina, North Carolina and the Delmarva Peninsula, while the story page and the federal record both list the Laurel, Mississippi complex.

Amick Farms LLC 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.

No retail store, farm store, bundles, halves or quarters, online ordering, or home delivery is described for the Laurel establishment in the sources on file. Amick Farms describes itself as a nationally distributed brand whose products reach consumers through retail and foodservice channels in more than 40 states, and directs distributor inquiries to its Batesburg, South Carolina sales line at (803) 532-1400 or (800) 926-4251. Households seeking product should expect to find it at retail rather than at the plant.

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.