Costco poultry plant changing Nebraska industry landscape

In Fremont, Neb., the sky-high feed mill looming over the open fields signals a shift in a state where beef dominates. It will support a $400 million chicken complex that Costco Wholesale Corp. is building to control the quality of birds it sells in its depots nationwide. To supply the giant facility, grain farmers are converting to poultry growers, building on their plots at least four chicken houses each, with some as many as 16. Each of the 432 barns houses 42,000 birds, making for a one-time capacity of more than 18 million of them.