Wayne-Sanderson Farms is building a new $43 million feed mill at the company's Danville processing plant.
The new state-of-the-art mill will be located on 21 acres adjacent to the Danville Fresh Processing Complex and will have the capacity to produce more than 8,500 tons of feed per week, according to a company news release.
Toby Tapp, the Danville complex manager, said farming and poultry are economic drivers for the area.
"We just took the mayor, city administrator, county judge and other officials on a tour of the construction site and we're getting lots of support -- the entire community is excited to see construction begin," he said in the news release.
In addition to serving 125 regional poultry farms, the company expects to produce other corn and grain products for local farmers.
The new mill will need up to 380 truckloads, or 2,450 cubic yards, of concrete.
The grain silos for the project are scheduled to be built in the first half of this year, and Tapp said he expects the entire facility to be finished and serving farmers by April 2025.
The new feed at the facility will create formula feed for chicks, broilers, pullets and hens.
There will be two dedicated receiving systems capable of unloading 26,500 bushels of corn or soy grain per hour. The main mill will feature expanded storage for ingredients, finished feed, whole grains, liquids and warehouse space.
The company's twin pellet mills will have the ability to produce feed at 45 tons per hour and the mill can mix and batch feed at 160 tons per hour.
Wayne-Sanderson Farms is the nation's third largest poultry producer, with a workforce of 26,000 people and operations in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas.