TSN Tyson Foods

Perdue Farms Inc. struck a deal to acquire the parent of the Niman Ranch brand of meat products, extending the poultry processor's bet on meat produced without antibiotics.

The deal between Perdue and private-equity firm LNK Partners, which owns Niman Ranch's parent, adds an array of beef and pork products, as well as cage-free eggs, the companies announced late Tuesday. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Perdue Chairman Jim Perdue said his company would adhere to Niman Ranch's existing protocols for raising livestock without antibiotics or artificial growth stimulants and would continue working with Niman Ranch's network of farmer suppliers.

Perdue, based in Salisbury, Md., ranks as one of the largest U.S. chicken processors and has pushed antibiotics in livestock as a point of differentiation between the privately owned company and larger rivals, like Tyson Foods Inc. and Pilgrim's Pride Corp., both of which announced this year their own efforts to scale back antibiotic use among their flocks. Perdue began curbing some antibiotic use in its chickens in 2007, and said in April that 95% of its chickens never receive any antibiotics used to treat human illnesses, and about half of its chickens are raised with no antibiotics at all.

The effort centers on concerns among government health agencies and consumer groups that widespread use of antibiotics in both human and animal medicine is hastening the development of bacteria that can withstand antibiotics, raising the risk that more people will become infected with illnesses that are more difficult to cure.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in late 2013 unveiled new measures aimed at reducing the use of antibiotics to help animals gain weight faster, advocates have pushed food companies to respond more directly by boosting standards for their meat suppliers.

Some meat-industry officials, such as Sanderson Farms Inc. Chief Executive Joe Sanderson, have defended the use of antibiotics as necessary to ensure birds' health.

Niman Ranch, which is operated under the parent company Natural Food Holdings, traces its roots to a Bolina, Calif. ranch that began emphasizing "all-natural" raised beef in the early 1970s, later expanding into pork production through a partnership with an Iowa farm in 1995. About 700 farmers and ranchers currently supply hogs, cattle, lamb and eggs to the company, which touts its "humane and sustainable methods."

As part of the deal, Perdue also acquired the Prairie Grove brand of pork products and two Iowa meatpacking plants.

Write to Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 08, 2015 23:15 ET (03:15 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.