Cargill to sell Wichita-based pork business to Brazil meat processor

Cargill is selling its U.S. pork business, which is headquartered in Wichita, to JBS USA Pork for $1.45 billion.

Seventy employees at Cargill’s Wichita headquarters will be affected, Cargill spokesman Mike Martin said Wednesday. JBS USA is based in Greeley, Colo.

The acquisition includes Cargill pork processing plants in Ottumwa, Iowa, and Beardstown, Ill.; five feed mills: two in Missouri and one each in Arkansas, Iowa and Texas; and four hog farms: two in Arkansas and one each in Oklahoma and Texas. Martin said the division has 5,100 employees.

The acquisition must still receive regulatory review and approval.

JBS, based in Brazil and the largest meat processor in the world, entered the U.S. pork market when it bought Swift & Co. in 2007. It has daily capacity to process more than 50,000 hogs at facilities in Marshalltown, Iowa; Worthington, Minn.; and Louisville, Ky. JBS brands include Swift and Swift Premium.

Cargill will still have more than 900 employees in downtown Wichita working for other Cargill divisions, Martin said.

This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 5:05 PM with the headline "Cargill to sell Wichita-based pork business to Brazil meat processor."