Simmons Foods closing poultry plant in Jay, Oklahoma

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  Andrea Gantz

  The Simmons Food poultry rendering plant in Jay, Oklahoma, will close in December.

  From WATTAgNet:
  Simmons Foods plans to close its poultry rendering plant in Jay, Oklahoma, in late December. The company cited an inconsistent supply of hens and subsequent underutilization of the plant as its main reasons to close the plant.
  At one time, other regional poultry companies had used the plant in Jay for slaughtering older breeding stock.
  The Simmons Foods plant in Jay currently employs more than 200 people, and all employees will be offered opportunities to work at other Simmons locations in Missouri and Arkansas, according to a press release sent to Grand Lake News.
  “This hasn’t been an easy decision, and it’s only after carefully considering all possible options for the business that we came to this decision,” Gary Murphy, president and chief operating officer of the Simmons Poultry Group stated in the release. “We have a wonderful team of people at Jay and we’re grateful for their efforts during this time. We’d also like to thank the city and community of Jay for their support.”
  Simmons Foods stated that it is exploring options to continue to use the Jay facility.
  According to the WATT Global Media Top Companies Database, Simmons Foods processes 190 million chickens annually. The company is headquartered in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
  Simmons Foods is a subsidiary of parent company Simmons, which also operates Simmons Prepared Foods, Simmons Pet Food, Simmons Feed Ingredients, Simmons Custom Processing, Simmons Energy Solutions, and ProCal. Simmons Energy Solutions also has operations in the Jay area, and those operations will continue.