Tyson Foods has unveiled plans to construct a $320m poultry complex in eastern Kansas.
A processing facility, hatchery and feed mill will be built near the city of Tonganoxie, in Leavenworth County,
Production is anticipated to begin in the middle of 2019 and the firm is planning to supply pre-packaged trays of fresh chicken for retail grocery stores across the US from the new plant.
Tyson Foods will collaborate with northeast Kansas farmers and ranchers to raise chickens and employ around 1600 people to operate the plant.
The new facility will be able to produce at least 1.25 million birds every week.
Tyson Foods president and CEO Tom Hayes said: “We believe this new operation, which will incorporate the latest production technology, will enable us to meet the sustained growth in consumer demand for fresh chicken.”
Tyson Foods is expecting that the new plant will generate an annual economic benefit of around $150m including the payments to farmers, purchase of grain and utilities etc.
At present, Tyson Foods is operating six facilities across Kansas maintaining a workforce of around 5,700 with an annual payroll of more than $210m.
In last fiscal year, the company had paid more than $2bn for the Kansas cattle suppliers and $1.3m for hog suppliers.
In August, Tyson Foods has announced to invest $84m in expanding its Tennessee poultry plant which would create more than 300 jobs, improve efficiency and support its growth plans.
