Sanderson Farms, Inc.

Establishment P40183 is a poultry slaughter and processing plant at 2081 Sanderson Way in Kinston, Lenoir County, North Carolina. The federal record lists the establishment under Sanderson Farms, Inc., with doing-business-as names including Covington Farms, Sanderson Farms, LLC., Wayne Farms LLC., and Wayne-Sanderson Farms. FSIS records show activities of poultry slaughter and poultry processing, a size class of Large, a grant of inspection date of June 17, 2019, and a slaughter volume category of 5.0. Poultry is the only species reported slaughtered under inspection, and no custom-exempt activity is reported.

The corporate website describes Wayne-Sanderson Farms as a company formed from two poultry companies, operating 23 processing and prepared-foods plants with more than 26,000 employees and over 2,000 contract family farmers, with farms and facilities from North Carolina to Texas. The company describes itself as the nation's third-largest poultry producer. Retail brands named on the site include Sanderson Farms, Naked Truth, and Covington Farms, while foodservice brands include Wayne Farms, Platinum Harvest, Chef's Craft, Kosmic Krunch, Buffaloos, Fly'n Saucers, Crispy Fliers, and Harrison.

The website is corporate rather than plant specific. It does not describe operations, hours, retail sales, or custom services at the Kinston location. Details beyond the federal record and the company-level website material are not yet on file for this establishment.

The company website describes contract poultry growing rather than fee-for-service processing of a farmer's own birds. It states that Wayne-Sanderson Farms partners with nearly 2,000 family farmers across broiler, breeder, and pullet farms, that one third of its farmers are in Alabama followed by Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia, and Arkansas, and that contracted growers tend birds, track health and growth, follow biosecurity practices, and maintain housing equipment. The site says growers are supported by a flock advisor, veterinarians, and a technical services department, and that arrangements are flexible with no single defined way to partner. The federal record reports no custom-exempt activity at this establishment, and neither the record nor the website states that the Kinston plant accepts animals from independent producers for custom slaughter or cut and wrap. Prices, booking, and minimums are not stated.

Sanderson 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.

No retail counter, farm store, halves or quarters, bundles, delivery, shipping, or online ordering is described for the Kinston plant in the sources. The company website presents branded retail and foodservice chicken products sold through customers and brokers, including the Sanderson Farms, Naked Truth, and Covington Farms retail brands, and directs questions to a company representative through its contact page. Household buyers would find these products through retail grocery channels rather than at the plant, as listed.

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.