One of the world’s largest food processors, privately owned Cargill announced the sale of its two remaining feedlots, holding 155,000 head of cattle, to ethanol maker Green Plains. The transaction will make Green Plains the fourth-largest cattle feeder in the nation with a feedlot capacity of 255,000 head, said Drovers Cattle Network.
The $36.7 million deal for the feed yards at Leoti, Kan., and Yuma, Colo., includes a multi-year agreement for Green Plains to supply cattle to Cargill’s meatpacking plants. John Keating, head of Cargill’s protein business, said the sale of the yards was part of a plan “to redeploy working capital away from cattle feeding operations to other businesses.” Cargill sold two other feedlots, in Texas, last year, said Drovers.
Green Plains has 17 ethanol plants and has been a cattle feeder since 1969, said Drovers. Before the deal with Cargill, it owned feedlots in Kismet, Kan., and Hereford, Texas, with a total capacity of 100,000 head. Todd Becker, Green Plains chief executive, said the purchase of the Cargill operations will diversify the company’s revenue sources and aligned with a strategy of expanding its protein sales.