{"id":34339,"date":"2026-02-18T01:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T09:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/smithfield-to-build-1-3b-pork-processing-plant\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T01:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T09:11:11","slug":"smithfield-to-build-1-3b-pork-processing-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/smithfield-to-build-1-3b-pork-processing-plant\/","title":{"rendered":"Smithfield to build $1.3B pork processing plant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech\">\n    <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725\" alt=\"-\"><br \/>\n        Listen to the article<br \/>\n        <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">3 min<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\">\n        <audio controls=\"\" class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\"><source src=\"https:\/\/text-to-speech.divecdn.com\/newspost\/812354\/2026-02-17_16.50.32\/smithfield-foods-pork-plant-south-dakota-packaged-meats.wav\" type=\"audio\/mp3\"><\/source><\/audio><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\">\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">feedback<\/a>.\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Dive Brief:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Smithfield Foods said Monday it would <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/investors.smithfieldfoods.com\/news-events\/press-releases\/detail\/1432\/smithfield-foods-to-build-new-state-of-the-art-processing-facility-in-sioux-falls-south-dakota\" target=\"_blank\">spend up to $1.3 billion <\/a>over the next three years on a new combined packaged meats and pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.<\/li>\n<li>The highly automated facility is set to be &#8220;the most modern of its kind in the U.S.,&#8221; the pork giant said in a statement, and will help deliver &#8220;significant efficiency gains&#8221; to the company&#8217;s fresh pork and high-value packaged meat operations.<\/li>\n<li>The building will replace the pork giant&#8217;s existing manufacturing facility in the city, which is more than 100 years old. The plant is expected to begin production at the end of 2028.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Dive Insight:<\/h3>\n<p>Smithfield is reshaping its U.S. manufacturing footprint as meatpackers face rising costs for live animals and look for new ways to save money.<\/p>\n<p>After <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.agriculturedive.com\/news\/high-costs-low-values-stunt-the-pork-industry-cobank\/689432\/\" target=\"_blank\">a period of low prices<\/a>, hog costs began rising in 2025 and are <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/ers.usda.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/_laserfiche\/outlooks\/113689\/LDP-M-379.pdf?v=61500\" target=\"_blank\">expected to continue to increase this year<\/a> as demand for protein lifts up meat sales, according to a USDA forecast. Record-low cattle supply has also pushed up the cost of beef to all-time highs, prompting more consumers to explore alternatives like pork or chicken.<\/p>\n<p>Although Smithfield is primarily a pork producer, it&#8217;s slowly expanded its presence in beef as the company looks to offer more packaged meats like salami or roast beef. The company recently purchased Nathan\u2019s Famous <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fooddive.com\/news\/smithfield-foods-to-buy-nathans-famous-for-450m\/810117\/\" target=\"_blank\">all-beef hotdogs for $450 million<\/a>, further exposing itself to the volatile cattle market.<\/p>\n<p>To reduce costs, Smithfield has looked to simplify its supply chain and find savings through manufacturing efficiencies. The pork giant recently said it would <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fooddive.com\/news\/smithfield-closes-massachusetts-sausage-charcuterie-plant\/811810\/\" target=\"_blank\">close a dry sausage plant in Massachusetts<\/a>, with plans to move production to other facilities.<\/p>\n<p>The pork giant&#8217;s current Sioux Falls plant employs 3,200 people and began operating in 1909 <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.argusleader.com\/story\/news\/2020\/05\/03\/looking-back-smithfield-foods-sioux-falls-coronavirus-history-company\/3059157001\/\" target=\"_blank\">under processor John Morrell &amp; Company<\/a>, which was purchased by Smithfield in 1995. The $1.3 billion investment reflects Smithfield&#8217;s strategy to grow packaged meat, which has become one of the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/investors.smithfieldfoods.com\/news-events\/press-releases\/detail\/1421\/smithfield-foods-reports-record-third-quarter-results\" target=\"_blank\">most profitable segments for the company<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSmithfield\u2019s investment supports our long-term strategy of continuing to grow and optimize our value-added packaged meats and fresh pork operations to deliver innovation, convenience and value to our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other meatpackers have invested in automation to squeeze savings. Cargill announced a $90 million investment last year in computer vision technology for its Fort Morgan, Colorado, plant that allows the manufacturer to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fooddive.com\/news\/cargill-90m-colorado-beef-plant-automation-technology\/750266\/\" target=\"_blank\">process more meat per cow<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/smithfield-foods-pork-plant-south-dakota-packaged-meats\/812354\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This article was originally posted at Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Listen to the article 3 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive &#8230; <a title=\"Smithfield to build $1.3B pork processing plant\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/smithfield-to-build-1-3b-pork-processing-plant\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Smithfield to build $1.3B pork processing plant\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-dive","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34339\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}