Cargill turkey feed mill achieves 30-year safety record

The Cargill Turkey and Cooked Meats (CTCM) feed mill in Springdale, Arkansas, which furnishes feed for Cargill’s turkey business in the region has operated 30 consecutive years, five days a week, 20 hours a day, without any employee lost-time injuries. This 30-year achievement will be celebrated with a ceremonial awards luncheon on June 20 at the Springdale feed mill location. 
Representatives from the CTCM Springdale feed mill and CTCM turkey hatchery in Gentry, Arkansas will be honored for their years of dedication to employee and workplace safety.
“Cargill was built on a firm foundation of respect, integrity and commitment to health and safety,” said Shane Acosta, general manager for Cargill’s turkey operations in Northwest Arkansas. “Employee and workplace safety is one of our top priorities and the employees of the Springdale mill should take great pride in this tremendous achievement they have worked so hard to earn. We are also honoring a similar 22-year accomplishment by our hatchery team at Gentry, Arkansas.”
For the nearly 40 Cargill employees who work at the feed mill, each week is filled with activity focused on producing feed for tens-of-thousands of Cargill turkeys. An average week for the feed mill consists of 100 hours of operation, with employees working in 10 hour shifts, two shifts daily, five days a week. In these 100 hours, Cargill employees produce, load and ship approximately 5.6 million pounds of feed, which is delivered to Cargill’s contract turkey farmers throughout the region.
Each week, the mill receives about 110 truckloads of ingredients and ships an average of 112 truckloads of finished feed. The process of loading and unloading these feed ingredients and the finished product is labor-intensive. It involves handling rail cars and trucks, as well as filling and drawing from large grain silos.
Ricky Belk, director of the Arkansas Department of Labor, will make remarks at the recognition ceremony, commending and congratulating Cargill for the 30-year achievement by the feed mill, as well as the 22-year milestone for no lost-time injuries that was achieved in 2014 by the company’s turkey hatchery at Gentry.
“The Arkansas Department of Labor has been recognizing employers for safe work time for over 30 years,” said Belk. “For a company to have a record of safety that spans nearly that entire time is an incredible achievement. It is an honor to be invited to celebrate this important milestone with the employees of Cargill and I am looking forward to congratulating them for their dedication to safety in our state.”