Rose Acre Farms, the builders and owners of the Lone Cactus Egg Farm south of Bouse, have begun work on a second farm which the company says will be very similar in size and scope to the first one. A groundbreaking for the new Desert Valley Egg Farm was held Friday, May 5.
Skip Becker of Becker Development and Consulting LLC said Rose Acre Farms will start construction in Fall 2023. He said the farm represents a $100 million investment that should be completed by 2026. The farm will house 2.2 million cage-free laying hens and will create an estimated 150 new jobs, bringing Rose Acres’ number of employees in La Paz County to over 300.
Becker is the incoming President of the Arizona Association for Economic Development. As director of the La Paz Economic Development Corporation, Becker was instrumental in getting Rose Acre Farms to locate in the county.
“We started this project in August 2013 and are excited to mark this milestone today,” Becker said in a press release. “We are grateful to our partners including the Arizona Commerce Authority, Arizona & California Railroad and APS for their support that Rose Acre Farms could grow a responsible economic development project in La Paz County. Once we had the backing of these critical partners, we knew we could start to build local support. We’ve been excited to share the economic impact of the farm to the area as a part of La Paz County and play an important role in Arizona agribusiness.”
The groundbreaking was attended by officials from Rose Acres, as well as representative of the Arizona Commerce Authority, state legislators, county elected officials and community leaders.
At the groundbreaking, Becker thanked Arizona Public Service for being the first partner in developing Rose Acre Farms. He said he couldn’t thank the economic development team at APS enough, and added they could not have started the expansion without APS installing the infrastructure.
Becker also thanked another early partner, the Arizona & California Railroad, which is owned by Genesee & Wyoming Co. He noted Rose Acres’ large grain terminal is named after a former A & C Director, the late Tania Cecil.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better partner,” Becker said.
In his remarks, Becker thanked the other partners in the project, including the Arizona Commerce Authority.
Becker also thanked the owners of Rose Acres, the Rust Family of Seymour, Ind. for all that they’ve done. He made special mention of Lois Rust, whom he called the “family matriarch.” He said the family has done what they’ve always done when they come into a community.
“The Rust Family and Rose Acre Farms became part of the fabric of the community they were in,” he said.
As for the future, Becker said the key thing will be workforce development and automation.
Rose Acres’ CEO, Marcus Rust, also spoke at the groundbreaking. He said a company is only as good as the people who work for it.
“We have great people here,” he said. “The people who run this farm are more part of this community than I ever will be.”
State District 30 Senator Sonny Borrelli spoke on behalf of himself and State Representatives Leo Biasiucci and John Gillette. He said the important part of projects like Rose Acre Farms was teamwork. Community members have to work together to get things done.
“It’s a wonderful feeling knowing they’re feeding people,” he said of Rose Acres.
Borrelli said he, Biasiucci and Gillette are always fighting for rural Arizona, something that isn’t always easy.
“You have to have a passion for this,” he said.
Jamie Kerr, the Arizona Commerce Authority’s Vice President for Rural Economic Development, reminded everyone this is a $100 million investment. He said Rose Acres has changed the La Paz County Community. They are part of the fabric of the community and part of agriculture in western Arizona.
The location of the new Desert Valley Egg Farm is off McVey Road on the other side of State Route 72 from the first farm.
Rose Acre Farms is based in Seymour, Ind. They began in the 1930s with just over 1,000 hens. They are now the second largest egg producer in the United States, and they have 15 facilities in seven dates. In La Paz County, they have made donations, including eggs, to many local organizations, including the schools and the Town of Parker’s Easter Eggstravaganza.
Source: Parker Pioneer
