Triumph delays start of new pork plant

Patt Lilly, chief administrative officer of the St. Joseph, Mo.-based Triumph Foods, said that the economy is making it impossible to begin the project.

"The financial market and the commodity markets have come together to make it not feasible to begin a project of this size," Lilly said. "The high cost of commodities has made it difficult to make a profit from raising hogs."

Lilly was quick to add that Triumph has no plans to close its St. Joseph plant and the company still intends to keep the site it owns near 172nd St. North and Barstow Road.

"We intend to maintain our ownership of that land," he said, adding that he could not give a timetable for when Triumph might begin the East Moline plant.

Construction of the plant was slated to begin early next year with a projected finishing date of mid-2010.

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