Sanderson Farms, Inc., Laurel, Mass., signed an agreement to continue processing chickens grown by House of Raeford Farms, Rose Hill, N.C., at Sanderson Farms’ St. Pauls, N.C., poultry processing facility. House of Raeford Farms’ Teachey, N.C., facility was severely damaged by a fire in late February. Sanderson Farms has been assisting House of Raeford Farms on an interim basis prior to reaching this longer-term processing agreement. House of Raeford Farms operates poultry grow-out operations and processing facilities in four southeastern states.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sanderson Farms will purchase, process and sell chickens grown by House of Raeford Farms through mid-December. Sanderson Farms may elect, under the terms of the agreement, to process chickens on a fee basis rather than purchasing them. Sanderson Farms estimates that the additional volume of processed pounds this arrangement will generate will be 20.4 million pounds in its third fiscal quarter of 2017, 26.3 million pounds in its fourth fiscal quarter of 2017 and 12.4 million pounds during its first fiscal quarter of 2018.

"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with our North Carolina neighbors, House of Raeford Farms, while they rebuild their Teachey processing facility following the devastating fire,” says Joe Sanderson, Jr., chairman and CEO of Sanderson Farms. “We believe this processing agreement will be beneficial to Sanderson Farms. Our St. Pauls facility just commenced production in January, and our new managers and employees will gain valuable training and processing experience with this accelerated production schedule. We hope to benefit from favorable chicken markets as we head into the busy summer months."

Sanderson Farms produces, processes, markets and distributes fresh, frozen and minimally prepared chicken.