Smithfield Foods announced Monday that it plans to spend an estimated $1.3 billion to build a new pork processing plant in South Dakota.
The meat producer said that the proposed facility would replace its existing downtown Sioux Falls plant. The new site, company officials said, would combine fresh pork processing and packaged meat production in a facility that would be “the most modern of its kind in the U.S.”
“This highly automated facility will represent a major investment in Sioux Falls, the state of South Dakota and the future of American agriculture,” Smithfield President and CEO Shane Smith said in a statement. “Smithfield’s 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.”…