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Wholestone says pork plant in SD will meet needs
The chairman of the board of Wholestone Farms says their proposed pork plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is farmer-owned and designed to meet consumers’ needs. Luke Minion tells Brownfield the plan is to process 3-million pigs and employ 11-hundred workers.
“I think the ownership at Wholestone being the farmers is going to give us an opportunity to differentiate how we can fully execute some of what I think consumers want relative to transparency and traceability in the chain so we’re excited about those opportunities.”
Minion tells Brownfield Ag News the plans for the facility were in the works before the pandemic, “Of course, that issue highlighted, underscored the importance of market access for pig farmers.”
Minion says they’re ready, “The goal here is to just make sure that family farms can survive and thirve and to get closer to the consumer. To do that, obviously, we’ve got to compete well. And to do that we’ve got to have the right mentality, the right assets and the right plan.”
Wholestone Farms, made up of 220 producers, has entered an option to buy 170 acres in Sioux Falls and at the earliest could have the plant built and running by late 2024. They have another pork plant in Fremont, Nebraska. Minion is also the chair and CEO of Pipestone.
