Source: Jodi Helmer, CAROLINA PUBLIC PRESS, 4/6/21


Ben Grimes processed 10,000 chickens, turkeys and ducks on Dawnbreaker Farms in northeastern Orange County. He invested in the processing equipment and developed the skills to get his poultry from farm to table — and recognized that other small-scale producers needed help to do the same.  The poultry processing situation in North Carolina became dire when Foothills Pilot Plant, a poultry processing facility in Marion inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, closed in 2017.

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