AMARILLO, Texas – According to officials from Caviness Beef Packers Ltd., the company plans to expand its Hereford, Texas, processing plant to accommodate a second slaughtering and processing shift. The $30 million expansion will increase the plant’s daily capacity from 1,800 head to 2,600 head while adding about 600 jobs at the facility. Approximately 65,000 sq. ft. will be added, pushing the plant’s square footage up to about 375,000 sq. ft. The investment will go toward upgrades including additional carcass coolers, animal welfare facilities, box storage, dry goods storage and a hide processing area.

“Caviness is excited to expand its processing capacity at our Hereford plant,” said Terry Caviness, CEO, adding that the location has been win-win for the company and the region where it has been located for decades. “It is where it all started over 55 years ago in 1962 and we have been fortunate to be able to see continued growth.

“The Texas panhandle is a vibrant cattle region with wonderful folks that have a great work ethic. The cattle numbers from the supply side are favorable and we are excited to create more packing capacity and demand for cattle in the greater southwest

Construction is slated to begin in October 2018 with a goal of finishing the project by the fall of 2019. The additional supply of cattle is expected to come from dairy farms, feedyards and ranches in the region. “We have good opportunities to further diversify and expand our higher end beef product offerings,” said Trevor Caviness, president.

Caviness also operates a beef plant in Amarillo, Texas, and CS Beef Packers LLC, in Kuna, Idaho, where it partnered with J.R. Simplot Co. to build a new beef plant that opened in 2017.

“Companies are only as good as their people and we are fortunate to have many talented folks on our team. We look forward to bringing people up from within the organization as well as adding new talented team members,” said Allen Hare, HR director.