Goldsboro Milling, the parent company of Maxwell Foods, announced that it will soon be permanently closing its hog production operations citing ‘projected financial losses.’
After more than 31 years, Maxwell Foods LLC, a livestock production company, will begin shuttering operations in a phased approach and expects all operations to end by mid-2021.
The company wrote in a statement: “The continuing low prices paid for our product, together with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, make the current and projected financial losses unsustainable for the company to continue operating.”
The North Carolina Pork Council (NCPC) expressed their sorrow in a joint statement saying, “We are deeply saddened that the persistent and untenable economic conditions mean that Maxwell Foods has reached the difficult decision to cease hog production operations by the middle of 2021.”
According to the NCPC, Maxwell Foods and its network of family farmers played a vital part in Eastern North Carolina communities and economic stability.
The council plans to find ‘sustainable options’ for approximately 150 contract farms in the Maxwell Foods system while hoping that employees find opportunities in livestock agriculture as the company enters its ‘phased transition process.’
Jim Long, CEO and President of Genesus INC commented: “A year ago, at this time Maxwell Foods was a Global Mega Producer with 100,000 sows. Last August 19 Maxwell sold about 46,000 sows and production contracts to Country View Farms who are part of the Clemons Food Group. Maxwell has announced that it will begin phasing out current production of about 54,000 sows beginning August 6th.
“This is unprecedented in our industry. We understand most if not all breeding of sows has stopped. There has never been a liquidation plan of this magnitude by one entity in the U.S. swine industry history. It appears that there were no buyers for the business. In the past when large producers such as Maxwell had an exiting plan another large producer took them over.”
