Meat + Poultry - April 2006 - 4

Germany culls 30,000 birds in response
to A.I. discovery

Tyson adds second shift
at case-ready plant

HAMBURG, Germany - Reacting to
the discovery of highly pathogenic avian influenza German health officials ordered the cull of 30,000 domestic birds
in the area where a case of A.I. was discovered at a commercial poultry farm
in Wermsdorf.
A spokesman for the state of Saxony said the poultry farm in the town
and a nearby slaughterhouse were being
cleaned to eliminate traces of the H5N1
bird flu virus.
Scientists at the Friedrich Loeffler
Institute of animal health confirmed
the H5N1 strain of avian flu virus had
been found on the farm. Additional tests
were being conducted to see if it is the

SHERMAN, Texas - Tyson Foods,
Inc., Springdale, Ark., plans to add a
second-shift at its new case-ready meat
plant in Sherman this month. The plant,
which began production Feb. 20, employs 830 people and will
expand the workforce
to approximately 1,000
later this month. Approximately 120 additional workers are currently
being hired in anticipation of the start
of second-shift operations. The facility
is expected to employ as many as 1,600
when it is in full production next year.
"I'm pleased with the progress this
plant has made since beginning production six weeks ago," said John Tyson,
chairman and C.E.O. of Tyson Foods.
Once fully operational, the Sherman
plant will increase Tyson's case-ready
meat production capacity 30 percent, or
an additional 6 million pounds of product per week.
"This plant will help us expand the geographic reach of our case-ready business,
especially as we seek to serve customers
in the Southwestern U.S.," Tyson said.
The Sherman plant is one of three
case-ready facilities Tyson operates.
The other two are in Council Bluffs,
Iowa, and Goodlettsville, Tenn.

highly pathogenic Asian variety, which
has been linked to more than 20 human
deaths this year.
In late March, government officials
announced Germany would commit $73
million over the next four years conducting A.I. research in hopes of developing
a vaccine for humans.
At print time, A.I. had been discovered in 45 countries on three continents. In a statement, the U.N.'s Food
and Agriculture Organization said, "To
date, the virus has killed 108 people,
all in Asia. More than 200 million birds
have died from the virus or through
culling in efforts to slow the spread of
the disease."

Smithfield completes acquisition of Cook's
SMITHFIELD, Va. - Smithfield
Foods, Inc. completed acquisition
of nearly all of the assets of the
Cook's ham business from ConAgra
Foods, Inc. The purchase price for
the transaction was approximately
$260 million, subject to adjustment
for working capital of the business
as of closing.
With annual sales of approximately $330 million, Lincoln, Neb.-based
Cook's, maintains facilities in Lincoln, Grayson, Ky., and Kansas City,

Mo. Cook's processes ham, corned
beef and other smoked meat items to
retail customers in the United States
and Canada.
"Cook's fits perfectly into our
strategy of growing our higher-value processed meats products and
utilizing our raw materials internally," said C. Larry Pope, Smithfield
president and C.O.O. "This is a significant step in our goal of utilizing
internally all of the hams from the
hogs we process."

Hormel acquires Valley Fresh in $78 million deal

National Beef launches
new natural Angus
product line

AUSTIN, Minn. - Hormel Foods Corp. has acquired Valley Fresh, Inc., Turlock,
Calif., a processor of canned, ready-to-eat chicken, for $78 million. Annual sales for
Valley Fresh are estimated to be $68 million.
"Our acquisition of Valley Fresh further
strengthens the portfolio within our grocery products business segment," said Jeffrey Ettinger,
president and C.E.O. "This healthy and convenient line of products is on-trend with today's
consumer, and we are excited about the growth opportunity within this category.
We now have the No. 1 position in several key shelf-stable categories, including
canned ready-to-eat chicken, canned luncheon meat and canned chili and stew."
Valley Fresh is a privately held company and employs approximately 265 workers
at its 90,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.
"Valley Fresh provides manufacturing capabilities that will deliver synergies to
our existing canned ready-to-eat chicken line of products," Ettinger said. "We will
also benefit from leveraging the Hormel Foods purchasing, sales, marketing and logistics systems."

KANSAS CITY - National Beef
Packing Co. L.L.C. has introduced
NatureSource Natural Angus, a product line designed to give retailers an
expanded presence in the natural meat
market. NatureSource only uses U.S.born Angus cattle raised on vegetarian
feed and animals that never receive antibiotics or hormones.
National Beef uses a proprietary verification system to ensure the Midwestern cattle in the program meet strict
quality standards and follow humanely
raised and handled guidelines. National
Beef's proprietary NatureSource Verification System guarantees the grain-fed
cattle meet specific quality standards.

MEAT&POULTRY

April 2006

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Meat + Poultry - April 2006

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