Mountaire Farms

What became Mountaire Farms was founded in Arkansas in 1914 by Guy Cameron, who started a local feed business. His son Ted Cameron built four feed mills in the 1950s to serve local growers. In 1959, the company started processing chickens, with Mountaire Poultry, Inc. incorporated in 1964. The company was incorporated as Mountaire Corporation in 1971. Ron Cameron, the son of Ted Cameron, became President and CEO of the company in 1975.[3]

In 1977, Mountaire Farms expanded operations to Delaware when it purchased H&H Poultry in Selbyville. The company acquired Piedmont Poultry in Lumber Bridge, North Carolina in 1996. In 2000, Mountaire Farms purchased operations from Townsends, including Central Grain Facilities, in Millsboro, Delaware. The same year, the company built a new feed mill in Candor, North Carolina. In 2003, Mountaire Farms bought the Tyson feed mill in Princess Anne, Maryland. The company acquired operations from Hostetter Grain Facilities in Trappe, Maryland, Queen Anne, Maryland, and Seaford, Delaware in 2007. In 2009, Mountaire Farms bought Mauney Grain in New London, North Carolina. The company acquired Carmean Grain Facilities in Ridgely, Maryland in 2011. In 2012, Mountaire Farms bought Gavilon Grain in Townsend, Delaware. The company took over the Townsend/Omtron Hatchery in Siler City, North Carolina in 2013. Mountaire Farms bought Star Milling in Statesville, North Carolina in 2014, which became their Breeder Feed Mill. In 2016, the company bought a former processing plant in Siler City, with plans to renovate and update the plant. In October of that year, Mountaire Farms opened a new Corporate Office Building in Millsboro. In 2017, the company acquired Lansing Trade Group, LLC, which has operations in Eastville and Painter in Virginia.[3]

Mountaire Farms was the fifth largest contributor to the 2016 Trump campaign.[11][6] 2018 7.7 million dollars to GOP efforts in that years midterm elections which bought him access to The White House on the day of the election to watch the election results.[12][13] Incidences of worker injury at the Mountaire Farm plants, which are highly profitable and sell their chicken to others to market under different names, are high, with a worker injured every other day between 2015 and 2018. Ronald Cameron, "head" of Mountaire Farms, was appointed to the President Trump's advisory committee on the pandemic, and subsequently, workers in the meat and packing industry have not solely been deemed an essential service, but their rights to a safe working place, and union organization, are continually being undermined.[14]

• Official website