Midwest's New Pork Plants Opening

This week Tyson Foods announced it will put plans for a Kansas poultry complex on hold. The company had pledged construction of a $320 million dollar plant in Leavenworth County just two weeks prior. By mid-week, more than a dozen other Kansas communities had lined up to take a crack at the 1,600 jobs the project was forecast to bring.Local rejection of industrial bond funding drove Tyson’s move, and adds to the contentious debate over corporate giveaways in Midwestern states. As producer Colleen Bradford Krantz discovered, the planned addition of a handful of hog processors also has brought mixed reactions from heartland area producers.