Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM

Smithfield Beef Group Inc and ContiGroup Companies Inc have announced an agreement in principle to form a 50/50 joint venture to build a new beef processing plant near Guymon in Texas County OK that will create 2,500 to 3,000 jobs.

Construction of the plant, which will be the first of its size in more than 20 years in the United States, is expected to begin in January 2007, with completion scheduled for mid-2008. The parties plan to equip the new 650,000-square-foot facility with efficient, advanced operational and food safety processes. Cost of the project is estimated to be about $200 million.

The Texas County plant is expected to process 5,000 head per day at full capacity.