Sanderson Farms, Inc.

The Palestine, Texas plant at 320 Sanderson Farms Pkwy operates under establishment numbers P51179 and V51179 and is listed in the USDA FSIS directory under Sanderson Farms, Inc., with related names on file including Covington Farms, Sanderson Farms, Inc. (Processing Div), Sanderson Farms, LLC, Wayne Farms LLC, and Wayne-Sanderson Farms LLC. FSIS records the establishment as large size class with activities covering poultry slaughter, poultry processing, and export certification. Poultry is the only species reported slaughtered under inspection, and the grant of inspection date on file is May 20, 2020. The plant's FSIS slaughter volume category is 5.0, the top of the reported range. No custom-exempt activity is reported.

Wayne-Sanderson Farms describes itself as the nation's third-largest poultry producer, formed from two poultry companies with roots in farm supply and feed manufacturing. The company reports 23 processing and prepared-foods plants, more than 26,000 employees, nearly 2,000 contract family farmers, and nine fresh and prepared poultry brands, with farms and facilities from North Carolina to Texas. Brands named on the company site include Sanderson Farms, Naked Truth, Covington Farms, Harrison, Kosmic Krunch, Buffaloos, Fly'n Saucers, Crispy Fliers, Platinum Harvest, Chef's Craft, and Wayne Farms.

The company site is corporate and does not describe operations specific to the Palestine facility, and it does not list plant hours, a retail counter, or direct sales to households. Details beyond the federal record and the corporate website are not yet on file for this establishment.

No custom-exempt or custom slaughter activity is reported to FSIS for this establishment, so the federal record does not indicate that it takes in animals from individual owners for personal-use processing. The corporate website describes a contract growing model in which nearly 2,000 family farmers raise broilers, breeders, and pullets for the company, supported by a flock advisor, veterinarians, a technical services department, and training. The site states one third of its farmers are in Alabama, followed by Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia, and Arkansas, that 48 percent have farmed with the company for 10 or more years, and that 24 percent are second generation or older. Contract terms, pay, house requirements, and any intake arrangements at the Palestine plant are not stated in the sources.

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.