Tyson Foods Inc. has agreed to use SmartPro hatchery equipment and software to equip its new chicken production complex in western Tennessee.
Hatchery technology suppliers Pas Reform and NatureForm were chosen to equip Tyson's hatchery in Humboldt, where the company will have the capacity to hatch 1.7 million eggs a week. Humboldt is about 20 miles north of Jackson, Tenn.
The hatchery suppliers said in a news release that Tyson is the first major U.S. poultry producer to install this type of hatcher, which eliminates the need for a water source in the hatcher by providing "moisture enhanced" feed to day-old chicks.
Pas Reform's software will allow Tyson to control parts of the hatchery from a single computer inside the facility, or remotely, and control the temperature of the hatchers and setters, often called incubators. According to the company, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning installation is included.
They said Tyson placed an order for 42 setters and 39 hatchers under the SmartPro brand for its planned chicken production complex scheduled to open in mid-2020. Tyson also bought four "SmartStart" hatchers that will be tested and installed this spring.
Steve Warren, president of NatureForm Hatchery Technologies, said in remarks to reporters that he sees the deal as a "milestone" for his company that comes after holding frequent meetings with Tyson staff, visiting Tyson hatchery operations and inviting Tyson officials to visit NatureForm operations.
Pas Reform, established in 1919, created NatureForm in 2014 to cater to the U.S. poultry industry. They develop commercial incubators, hatchery equipment and software for the poultry industry. Hydratec Industries N.V. of the Netherlands is the parent company of Pas Reform and NatureForm.
"We feel that this project helps us to get a major foothold on the U.S. market and internationally as well," Bouke Hamminga, Pas Reform's Director for International Sales and Business Development, said in a news release. Chicken producers Wayne Farms and Koch Foods have also chosen Pas Reform to update their hatcheries within the last year.
Tyson's Humboldt hatchery is part of a $300 million investment estimated to draw 1,500 new jobs. A feed mill, hatchery, processing plant and related operations are in the works. At full capacity, the complex will be capable of processing 1.25 million birds per week, Tyson said.
The city of Humboldt accepted Tyson's request to set up shop there after efforts to build the project in a small Kansas community met with resistance.
Business on 02/13/2019