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Construction begins on new pork processing facility

The first new pork processing plant in years broke ground in Michigan last week.

The Michigan Pork Producers Council says it’s the first time a state of the art pork processing facility of its size has been built since the 1990s.

Executive Vice President Sam Hines believes the Coldwater plant near the Michigan/Indiana/Ohio boarder will positively impact the Eastern Corn Belt hog market.

“Production will be supplied by the producer investors owners that are involved in the facility, those owners are from Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.” He tells Brownfield, “That means they will still need to buy about 20 percent of their needs on the open market and so there will be some opportunities for other producers to sell hogs to them as well.”

Hines says the Eastern Corn Belt live hog market has suffered since the region’s last pork processor, Thorn Apple Valley, closed in 1998.

The Clemen’s Food Group plans to have the plant operational by 2017, processing 10,000 hogs per day.

AUDIO: Interview with Sam Hines (3:40 mp3):