JACKSON, Miss. — Cal-Maine Foods Inc. has announced that its Board of Directors has approved a $40.1 million capital project to expand the company’s cage-free egg production at its Guthrie, Ky., production facility.
The project will include related site work and the additional infrastructure to convert existing conventional capacity to house approximately 1.5 million cage-free hens and 300,000 pullets. Construction will commence immediately with initial conversions expected in early 2021, first pullet placements by summer 2021 and the first layer house finished by fall 2021. Project completion is expected by late 2022. The company plans to fund the project through a combination of available cash on hand, investments and operating cash flow.
“This latest expansion supports our continued efforts to position Cal-Maine Foods as an industry leader in meeting future customer goals for cage-free eggs,” Dolph Baker, chairman and CEO of Cal-Maine Foods, said. “The Guthrie location is strategically located close to a large customer footprint, which will enable us to enhance our distribution of cage-free eggs for this important market region. Including this latest project, we have allocated approximately $462.5 million during the prior twelve years to facilities, equipment, and related operations to expand our cage-free production.
“Across the country, a growing number of states have passed minimum space and/or cage-free requirements with implementations ranging from January 2022 to January 2026. We believe adding this capacity in Cal-Maine Foods’ facilities over the next two years will help drive our continued efforts to meet customers’ needs.”
For more information about Cal-Maine, visit www.calmainefoods.com
