Hillandale takes over management of former Moark farm

Hillandale Farms has officially taken over the management of the former Moark egg farm in Turner, Maine, a Hillandale spokesperson said.
In July, Hillandale signed an agreement to take over the lease for the farm from Moark, a subsidiary of Land O’Lakes, which earlier announced its planned exit from the egg industry. The farm is still owned by former egg industry executive Jack DeCoster.
According to a Sun Journal report, the facility in Turner is the largest egg farm in the state, with 2.3 million chickens.
Hillandale Farms, headquartered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, currently employs 212 people in Maine, but is actively recruiting to build the number of employees to 250, company spokesperson Melanie Wilt said. Hillandale is also raising the salaries for its hourly workers and offering a benefits package for its workers that exceeds what was offered.
Also included in the July deal between Hillandale Farms and Moark were egg farms in Winthrop and Leeds, Maine, which did not house any chickens at the time. Hillandale has not yet revealed what its plans are for those two farms.
Prior to the deal with Moark, Hillandale Farms had around 9 million hens and was the seventh largest egg company in the United States.

Moark sells egg farms to Hillandale

Moark L.L.C. has sold its remaining egg farms in Maine to Hillandale Farms, according to a report.
Town managers in Winthrop and Leeds, Maine, where the former egg farms are located, say they believe the sites no longer have chickens on them. The other egg farm is located in Turner, Maine.
The farms formerly were leased three years ago from Jack DeCoster for 10 years with the option to buy. It is unclear whether Moark has sold its lease or had purchased the farms outright.
Prior to the acquisition, Hillandale Farms had around 9.0 million hens and was the seventh largest U.S. egg producer in the February 2015 Egg Industry magazine Top Egg Company survey.
Moark is the layer division of Land O'Lakes Cooperative. Entering 2015, Moark had sold its Midwest and Western operations and had 6.5 million hens housed at its remaining farms in Maine and Connecticut. Industry sources report that in addition to Moark's farms in Maine, Hillandale also purchased Moark's Borzah, Conneticutt operations.
This transaction completes Land O'Lakes planned exit from the layer industry. The cooperative had announced its intention to leave the layer industry in 2013 and had been seeking a buyer since that time.
When this acquisition is completed, Hillandale Farms will certainly move up into the top five egg producers based on the number of layers housed.

Southern California Egg Cooperative buys Moark assets

The Southern California Egg Cooperative (SCEC) has acquired the Western Division of Moark LLC’s egg production operations from Land O’Lakes. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Moark’s Western Division is headquartered in California, and services customers along the West Coast, as well as Idaho and Nevada.
The two organizations had a longtime working relationship, as Moark hard been the distributor of the cooperative’s fresh shell eggs. However, SCEC believes as the new owner of the Moark assets, the cooperative will become a stronger business.
“This acquisition puts us in direct connection between the farms and the purchasers of our eggs,’’ Jim Van Gorkom, vice president of sales and marketing for SCEC, told the Press Enterprise. “There are a lot of positives: One, it should be more efficient. Two, the eggs may be a little fresher when they hit the store shelves. They’ll go straight from the farm to the retailer, with no middle man.”
SCEC was formed in 2010 when four egg enterprises -- Demler Enterprises, Pine Hill Egg Ranch, Demler Egg Ranch and Harmony Egg Ranch -- joined to form one organization. Those four operations were owned by five brothers from the Demler family.
Earlier in May, Moark’s Midwestern Division egg production assets in Missouri and Colorado were sold to Opal Foods, a new company formed by AGR Partners, with Rose Acre Farms and Weaver brothers as minority shareholders.
Land O' Lakes, in its 2013 annual report, announced its intent to sell its Moark egg operations, citing financial losses over the past three years.

Land O’Lakes looks to sell Moark egg operations

Citing Moark's significant operating losses over the past three years, Land O’Lakes is seeking to sell its Moark egg operations. The decision for Land O’Lakes to get out of the layer business was revealed in the recently released Land O’Lakes 2013 annual report.
“The Layers segment, conducted through Moark LLC, had pretax losses in 2013 of $25 million, a $14 million improvement over 2012. While the company was challenged in 2013 by supply issues and high feed prices relative to egg prices, an extensive focus on cost savings and improved operational efficiency drove the improvement in 2013. Most important, the decision was made in 2013 to explore options to divest of this business,” the Land O’ Lakes 2013 annual report stated.
Moark LLC was formed in 2000. In 2006, it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Land O’Lakes. Moark has 16.1 million laying hens and produces about 126 million eggs weekly.

Moark egg farm shooting suspect pleads not guilty

A man accused of fatally shooting an employee at a Moark egg farm in Turner, Maine, has pleaded not guilty to a manslaughter charge. Michael Warbin, Franklin, Conn., allegedly shot Manuel Adame, Lewiston, Maine, on August 19.
Warbin entered the plea on October 31 in Androscoggin County Superior Court after being indicted earlier in October, the Associated Press reported.
Warbin had been contracted to clear the barn of rodents and stray chickens. While on the job, he allegedly fired a shot with a .22 caliber rifle in a poorly lit 500-foot-long barn, which wounded Adame. Prosecutors have said they believe the egg farm shooting was accidental, but a manslaughter charge is still applicable if the act was done with criminal negligence.
Officials said Adame collapsed while trying to leave the Moark barn and died while he was being taken to a hospital in nearby Lewiston. The state medical examiner's office said he died of a gunshot wound to the chest and neck.

Man indicted on manslaughter charge in Moark egg farm shooting case

A man accused of fatally shooting an employee at a Moark egg farm in Turner, Maine, has been indicted by a grand jury on a manslaughter charge. Michael Warbin, Franklin, Conn., allegedly shot Manuel Adame, Lewiston, Maine, on August 19.
According to news reports, Warbin had been contracted to clear the barn of rodents and stray chickens. While on the job, he allegedly fired a shot with a .22 caliber rifle in a poorly lit 500-foot long barn, which wounded Adame. Prosecutors have said they believe the egg farm shooting was accidental, but a manslaughter charge is still applicable if the act was done with criminal negligence.
Officials said Adame collapsed while trying to leave the Moark barn and died while he was being taken to a hospital in nearby Lewiston. The state medical examiner's office said he died of a gunshot wound to the chest and neck. 

Moark egg farm employee’s shooting death under investigation

The shooting death of a Moark egg farm employee in Turner, Maine, is being investigated by the Maine State Police. The worker, identified only as a 57-year-old male, appeared to have been shot on August 19 when another worker was using a .22-caliber rifle to kill rodents inside a barn that was being cleaned.
Authorities told news outlets the victim collapsed while attempting to leave the Moark barn. He died while being transported to a hospital in nearby Lewiston, Maine. An autopsy is pending.