ARCADIA, LOUISIANA, U.S. – House of Raeford Farms announced on July 23 that construction would begin this summer on a new feed mill.

The facility, to be located in Simsboro, Louisiana and Lincoln Parish, U.S., will be built at a cost of $40 million and be capable of producing 12,500 tonnes of feed weekly, double the capacity of the current mill.

The company will also make building modifications and add new equipment totaling over $7 million to the hatchery in Gibsland, Louisiana and the processing plant in Arcadia, Louisiana.

The complex will add more than 100 new jobs, and live production will contract for 86 new poultry houses over the next two years with a new construction impact to the northwest Louisiana community of $28million.

“House of Raeford is committed to our operations in Louisiana as evidenced by these major capital expenditures and planned employment increases,” said Bob Johnson, chief executive officer of the family-owned and operated company.

“In keeping with the growth objectives of our company, our Louisiana complex is also the first of our locations to offer No Antibiotics Ever chicken products to our customers.”

Construction of the feed mill will take 18 months to two years to complete, but improvements to the hatchery and processing plant will be finished earlier. In addition to these capital upgrades, House of Raeford’s totally rebuilt Wallace, North Carolina, U.S., processing facility re-opened last year while the Greenville and Hemingway, South Carolina locations have recently undergone major equipment and facility improvements.

House of Raeford Farms, Inc. is one of the nation’s top 10 largest chicken producers, providing ready-to-cook and further processed chicken products to the foodservice, retail, and export markets.