Tyson Foods shared with the city council in Springdale, Arkansas, that it is in the process of acquiring the former Cargill turkey plant in the city.
5News reported that Tyson Poultry President Nathan McKay appeared before the council on November 17, and informed its members that it wants to buy the plant that closed earlier in 2025, with the goal of turning it into a processing facility.
“We have intent to turn that into obviously a manufacturing facility to process various forms of chicken. At this time, we do not have any intent to slaughter birds there within the foreseeable future,” McKay told the council. “We will use it for further processing and/or portioning operations.”
“The goal over the next three years is to make capital investments within the facility to make it fit, obviously chicken processing. Today being a turkey plant, yes there are some similarities, but we will have to spend quite a bit in equipment, modifying that facility, and getting it up to par for the processes we have in mind for that.”
The council’s agenda packet included information that revealed the investment in the facility could range between $90 million and $130 million.
KNWA reported that Tyson Foods requested the issuance of Industrial Revenue Bonds. The request called for the city to issue the bonds, and Tyson would acquire the bonds.
No vote on the matter was taken, but the council did voice favor for the issuance of bonds.
Should the acquisition take place, McKay said there would not be many employees at the plant as the renovation efforts take place, but once operational, more than 200 people would be employed there. There is also the possibility that Tyson could consolidate other facilities into the plant.
When Cargill operated the Springdale plant, it employed about 1,000 people and supported about 100 growers.
Tyson Foods has not yet responded to a WATT Global Media request for comment or further information.
According to the WATTPoultry.com Top Companies Database, Tyson Foods processes 219.4 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis. It is the largest poultry producer in the United States and the second largest in the world.