True West Beef

Officials on Friday morning prepare to announce a new beef processing plant in Jerome.

Colin Tiernan

JEROME — A beef processing company announced Friday it plans to open a new plant in Jerome that will employee 400 workers when it opens.

Agri Beef already owns a mid-sized processor in Washington and has operated feedlots in Idaho since 1968. It also owns the Double R Ranch and Snake River Farms brands.

The Jerome plant, which will operate as True West Beef, will process 500 head of cattle a day, it said at a ceremony at the Jerome airport. That compares to 5,000 head a day for one of the giant plants.

The company said its average workers will make $52,000 per year.

The company said the new plant will be smaller and flexible in scale and unique in structure, with livestock producers directly involved in equity ownership of the True West facility.

“We evaluated many sites for this venture,"Agri Beef Executive Vice President of Business Development Wade Small said in a statement. "With an educated and motivated workforce, access to plentiful agricultural resources, and a vibrant community with a can-do spirit, Jerome and Idaho checked the box for everything we were looking for.”

This is a breaking story, return to Magicvalley.com for updates.

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