Hog farmers seek stake in plant

Hog farmers in the Upper Midwest and Canada's prairie provinces plan to buy a majority interest in a North Dakota slaughter plant, in what one official calls a historic moment for the region's pork industry.

The Cloverdale Growers' Alliance Cooperative, a group of about 60 hog farmers in North Dakota, Montana and Minnesota, has supplied the Mandan-based Cloverdale Foods Co. for the past decade. The alliance now has signed a letter of intent to buy a controlling interest in Cloverdale's Minot plant, said Dunn Center rancher Daryl Dukart.

The co-op is putting together a business plan and soon will begin a push to sign up more farmers in its current area, as well as South Dakota and Canada, said Dukart, the general manager of the group.

"We're hoping to have this done in the next 90 days," he said. "It's been 10 years of continuous work. This has kind of been a producer dream."

Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Cloverdale will remain a minority partner in the plant and will continue to handle management. T.J. Russell, the company's president and chief executive, said all 50 full-time workers will keep their jobs.