Cargill Celebrates New Boxed Beef Distribution Center at Kansas Facility

Governor Sam Brownback, as well as community, state and federal officials, joined Cargill’s beef business leaders as they celebrated the opening of a nearly $50 million distribution center at Cargill’s Dodge City beef processing facility. Around them, more than 9,000 feet of conveyor belts weave throughout the building, connecting to a row of towering shelves that stretch the entire height of the building. The shelving holds approximately 133,000, 60-pound, boxes of beef—the equivalent of 17,000 head of cattle. Crane-like devices can be seen in the background, moving boxes in and out of the shelves. Each day, the system stores an average of 40,000 boxes, while simultaneously shipping another 40,000 to Cargill’s customers worldwide.

This new automated system increases capacity of the former system by 70,000 boxes, and will improve the facility’s ability to keep highly perishable fresh meat products safe while awaiting distribution to Cargill’s foodservice and retail customers in hundreds of destinations, company officials say.

“I am honored to be a part of today’s event as Cargill celebrates its new facility,” says Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, “This is a significant investment that illustrates the importance of agriculture to the Kansas economy and Cargill’s commitment to Dodge City.”

The project was announced in 2013, with construction beginning the fourth quarter of the same year. It replaces a distribution system more than three decades old and brings increased efficiency and better reliability for the operations that serve Cargill’s food service, retail and processed foods customers. In addition to lower operating and maintenance costs, the new system is also more environmentally sustainable due to its improved energy use, which is aligned with the company’s ongoing efforts to reduce the plant’s environmental footprint.