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New Iowa pork plant slaughters first set of hogs

The first set of hogs have been slaughtered at Sioux City’s new pork plant.  According to the Sioux City Journal, Seaboard Triumph Foods processed about 100 hogs as officials continue to test equipment before the September 5th opening. 

The 925,000 square foot plant will have the capacity to process about 10,500 hogs per day initially.  Two-thirds of the animals will initially come from the plant owners and the rest would be purchased on the open market from independent producers.

To operate at full capacity the company has said it needs about 900 hourly workers.  They intend to start with a few hundred workers and then eventually add a second shift in late Spring 2018.  Once a second shift is added, slaughter capacity would grow to about 21,000 hogs per day or almost 6 million per year.

The $300 million plant has been under construction for nearly two years and commercial production is set to begin following the Labor Day Holiday.