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Rose Acres Farms lays groundwork for egg farm
By Bill Hankins
The Paris News
Published August 26, 2009
BOGATA —A major industry is looking to establish itself in Red River County, and Tuesday officials of Rose Acre Farms outlined their plans for a 25 million-chicken egg laying operation.
W. N. “Chips” Everhart, director of environmental affairs for Rose Acre Farms, told a public gathering in Bogata the planned farm will be 300 to 400 acres and take three to six months to get through the design and application process.
“We plan to start with 1.2 million chickens, then expand that to 2.5 million,” he said. “We hope to have the entire farm in operation in 18 to 24 months.”
Rose Acre Farms operates egg-producing plants in North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa with 24 million birds.
Everhart said the move to Texas would allow the organization to better serve already established customers in the Southwest.
He said the plant will contribute in many ways to the community around it.
“The chicken manure will be used as fertilizer for grain fields, farmers will grow grain and then can sell it back to the chicken farm,” he said. “Even the water we will use to wash the eggs can be recycled for other uses.”
He said the wastewater will be contained in many different ways depending on what the state wants the egg farm to do.
Everhart said Rose Acres farms in the beginning was looking at six or seven areas of Texas to establish the farm, but narrowed that search to an area of southwestern Red River County.
He was asked how many trucks would be coming in and leaving the farm each day.
“I anticipate there will be four to five trucks leaving with eggs and some trucks bringing in feed,” he said.
He said the chicken houses will be built and expanded as the need arises, but that each house can hold from 200,000 to 500,000 birds.
“We use a tiny beetle to help us break down the manure to help reduce the odor,” he said.
Everhart said the farm will buy grain feeds from local farmers.
The farm is expected to be located on County Road 1200.
“There are still some unknowns, but an engineer is developing site plans, and construction should begin in 12 to 18 months,” he said.
Rose Acres Farms plans other public meetings as the work on the farms progresses.
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