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Slaughterhouses and Packing Plants

National Beef: From Farmland and a Kansas Slaughterhouse to Major U.S. Packer

Starting with one Dodge City, Kansas plant, National Beef grew through cooperative backing, new plants and a Brazilian owner.

How did National Beef begin?

National Beef began in 1992, when Farmland Industries bought a slaughterhouse in Dodge City, Kansas. In 1993 it bought a plant in Liberal, Kansas, and the company was named Farmland National Beef LLC.

The Cavacopedia summary of National Beef records the steps that followed, and the Living History Farm account describes the company as a producer-owned marketing cooperative, formerly Farmland National Beef.

Producer ownership with U.S. Premium Beef

In 1997 U.S. Premium Beef Ltd took a minority stake, making the company jointly owned by Farmland and U.S. Premium Beef. National Beef also acquired a majority stake in Kansas City Steak Company that year.

In 2001 consumer-ready production began at Hummels Wharf, Pennsylvania, and Moultrie, Georgia. U.S. Premium Beef then bought a majority stake alongside a management group, with Beef Products Inc. as a minority investor, forming National Beef Packing Co. LLC.

What Made It Work

National Beef grew mostly by buying plants and by tying its ownership to cattle producers. The record shows steady additions of plants and processing lines across three decades.

Ownership kept changing, and the biggest shifts came from outside capital in 2011 and 2018.

  • Plant purchases: Dodge City in 1992 and Liberal in 1993 gave it a base in Kansas feeding country.
  • Producer ties: U.S. Premium Beef joined in 1997 and took a majority stake in 2001.
  • Value-added work: consumer-ready production began in 2001 at Hummels Wharf and Moultrie.
  • Expansion: it acquired Brawley Beef in California in 2006, a plant built in 2001 that could process over 400,000 cattle a year.
  • By-products: it formed National Beef Leathers in 2009 after buying the Prime Tanning facility in St. Joseph, Missouri.
  • Limit to note: the Brawley plant closed in 2014.

Leucadia and Marfrig

Leucadia National Corporation bought a majority stake in 2011. In April 2018, Brazil's Marfrig bought a 51 percent majority stake for $969 million, a deal that added a beef patty plant in North Baltimore, Ohio.

In 2019 the company acquired Iowa Premium, LLC, in Tama, Iowa. In 2016 it had announced plans to expand handling and shipping capacity at Dodge City and Liberal.

National Beef in the new Big Four

Living History Farm lists National Beef as the fourth of the newer Big Four beef packers, behind Tyson, Excel and Swift. That article also notes that the new generation of packers set up in rural states with cheap land and mostly non-union labor, and that many small cattle operators were squeezed out.

As the Cavacopedia entry shows, the summary above calls National Beef the fourth-largest U.S. beef processor, with annual sales above $7 billion. Figures like these are reported and change from year to year. Its size fits the broader pattern in the Living History Farm article, in which a small group of large packers came to dominate beef processing.

Learn more about the beef chain

National Beef shows how modern packers work: buy cattle from feedlots in the Plains, process them in a handful of large plants and sell boxed beef. farm.FM follows the herds behind that process in its ranching coverage, and a farm.FM story on Kansas beef plants goes deeper on one region.

Timeline

  1. 1992Farmland Industries buys a Dodge City, Kansas slaughterhouse
  2. 1993Buys a Liberal, Kansas plant; named Farmland National Beef LLC
  3. 1997U.S. Premium Beef takes a minority stake
  4. 2001U.S. Premium Beef takes a majority stake, forming National Beef Packing Co. LLC
  5. 2006Acquires Brawley Beef in California
  6. 2009Forms National Beef Leathers
  7. 2011Leucadia National buys a majority stake
  8. 2014Brawley plant closes
  9. 2018Marfrig buys 51 percent for $969 million
  10. 2019Acquires Iowa Premium, LLC, in Tama, Iowa

Frequently asked questions

Who owns National Beef?

Brazil's Marfrig bought a 51 percent majority stake in April 2018 for $969 million. Before that, Leucadia National held a majority stake from 2011, and U.S. Premium Beef had been a key owner.

Where is National Beef based?

National Beef is based in Kansas City, Missouri, with major beef plants in Dodge City and Liberal, Kansas.

How did National Beef start?

It began in 1992 when Farmland Industries bought a slaughterhouse in Dodge City, Kansas, then bought a Liberal, Kansas plant in 1993.

How big is National Beef?

One summary calls it the fourth-largest U.S. beef processor, with annual sales above $7 billion. Such figures are reported and change over time.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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