Cargill plans Fort Morgan beef-plant automation investment
Cargill plans nearly $90 million in automation and technology at Fort Morgan, Colorado, including computer vision that measures red-meat yield in real time.
Cargill plans to invest nearly $90 million in automation and new technologies at its beef-processing facility in Fort Morgan, Colorado, over the next several years. The investment forms part of the company's Factory of the Future initiative. Nearly $24 million has already been invested in technology upgrades at Fort Morgan since 2021.
CarVe, a proprietary, patent-pending computer-vision system, is among the technologies planned for the facility. It measures red-meat yield in real time, giving frontline managers production information they can use to provide employees with immediate feedback on cutting techniques. Cargill expects the technology to reduce product losses during processing.
Investment in the workforce
Cargill has also backed a $40 million employee-housing development in Fort Morgan. Twenty-seven townhomes have been built, with an 81-unit apartment complex scheduled to open in autumn 2025.
The broader https://www.cargill.com/story/future-protein-operations program already encompassed more than 100 projects across 35 North American facilities in October 2024. Its applications include automated processing equipment, production information and employee-assignment tools across Cargill's protein operations.
Computer vision and production workflows
At Dodge City, Kansas, two automated processing lines separate meat from bone. Previously, two workers per shift pushed large cuts of beef into a bandsaw by hand, up to 3,000 times a day. Employees now load a product cradle, after which a three-dimensional vision system scans the meat and determines a cutting path. A conveyor carries the product through a bandsaw that adjusts to the cut. Cargill states that each automated saw can make up to 14 cuts per minute.
The program also uses workforce information to help managers allocate shift assignments. Relevant information includes employees' experience and recent workload, as well as whether someone returning from vacation may need time to regain full productivity. Cargill's approach combines:
- automated equipment for repetitive processing tasks;
- production data for operational decisions;
- workforce planning and preparation for working alongside new technologies.
Company and media contact
Cargill
Media enquiries: [email protected]
Website: https://www.cargill.com/
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