JBS Breaks Ground on $135M Iowa Plant

PERRY, Iowa (DTN) -- Just over a year after the Tyson pork plant closed its doors in Perry, Iowa, JBS Foods USA broke ground for a $135 million sausage processing plant in the city.

"We're very excited about this project. It's very important for us. This is our first sausage facility in the U.S. It's a plant that will add a lot of value to our current work and our partners," said JBS Foods USA CEO Wesley Batista Filho on Tuesday. The plant is expected to be up and running in the fall of 2026 and will employ 500 people once it is running at a double shift.

This plant will produce 130 million pounds of product annually, running at full capacity. It will run in unison with JBS' newly purchased facility in Ankeny, Iowa, which will produce ready-to-eat bacon and sausage.

"We wanted to build a new plant, so it is here in 100 years from now," Batista Filho said. "The Ankeny facility will actually help this plant because we will send product from this facility to that one to be cooked. It will help ramp up the construction of this facility."

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig celebrated the groundbreaking of the state-of-the-art facility and what it brings to the community, Iowa's pork producers and the agricultural industry. "We appreciate this addition to the JBS portfolio in this state, adding Perry and Ankeny. I know that this site will deliver for customers, and for our industry-leading pork producers as well," Naig said. He pointed out how Perry has pulled together after struggles in 2024 to show their resilience for something good to come to the city.

"In the immediate future, there will be new jobs created in the construction category and when the plant is fully operational, a couple hundred jobs long term," Naig added. "Tremendous value to the pork industry and strengthening the economic backbone of this part of the state."

Perry's Mayor Dirk Cavanaugh thanked JBS for their commitment to the city. "Today is a great day for Perry. JBS's investment will bring a lot of opportunity to town. It will help us recover from last year's setbacks," he said.

The new plant will help bring people back to the Perry community or help them stay in the community as job losses from the previous pork plant closure forced many to find jobs elsewhere.

"Value-added agriculture is a community builder," Naig concluded.

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at Jennifer.Carrico@dtn.com

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