Sanpete turkey-processing plant resumes work

Good economic news for central Utah as a food-processing plant restarted operations this week, putting about 300 people back to work for the first time since November.

Moroni Feed Co. announced Wednesday that its Sanpete County turkey-processing facility resumed full production, following a three-and-a-half-month suspension in response to high grain prices. The plant had been scheduled to reopen this coming Monday, but the company was able to resume operations a few days ahead of schedule.

During an interview with the Deseret News, Kent Barton, president of Moroni Feed Co., said production was temporarily halted due to increased costs for feed grain and fuel.

He said that the company's expenses fell significantly as the price of crude oil began decreasing last summer and continued to drop over the next several months.

"At that time, corn was eight bucks a bushel," he said. "Our historical cost had been around $2.50. Right now it's about $3.75."

While grain prices have corrected somewhat, Barton said he still has long-term concerns about the potential of volatile fuel prices in the future and was still concerned about the amount of corn that is channeled into ethanol production under government mandates and subsidy programs.

"We feel like our legislators have to deal with our energy policy," Barton said. "We feel like there is not a level playing field on the energy side because ethanol producers get a handsome subsidy."

According to a press release, Moroni Feed Co. processed 5 million turkeys last year and is the oldest turkey-growing cooperative in the United States, consisting of 55 grower members and approximately 600 employees. This year, the company estimates that it would produce about 80 percent of its normal output due to the 4-month layoff, he said.

Moroni Feed Co. last year processed the vast majority of the state's commercially grown turkeys. Gross sales last year were $151 million in feed and turkeys.

The processing plant has operated year-round since 2001.

Nearly 400 of Moroni Feed's 600 employees were laid off late last year. The annual payroll in 2008 was $15 million.

Barton said that most of the workers were called back, though not everyone was able to return to their jobs. Because the company made a few changes to increase efficiency and cut costs, some duties have been outsourced to other local vendors, he said.

In January, the company began hatching baby birds and placing them in the 60 farms that are part of the Sanpete County turkey cooperative.

Farmers stopped raising baby birds when the cooperative's processing plant closed in November due to oversupply of turkeys and the high cost of fuel and feed.

E-mail: jlee@desnews.com