Officials at Butterball LLC announced that on April 10, Art Lankford joined the organization as vice president of operations. Lankford will work out of Butterball’s headquarters in Garner, N.C., and is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of its six turkey processing facilities in Arkansas, Missouri and North Carolina.

Lankford has extensive experience leading poultry operations across various global and national markets. He brings more than 37 years of experience in chicken farming, feed milling, nutrition, commodities, purchasing, export feed sales, by-products, animal welfare, veterinary and human resources services, including roles at Pilgrim’s Pride, ConAgra, Cargill and Tyson Foods. 

Originally from Wilkes County, N.C., and a graduate from University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Lankford has returned to his home state after working most recently for Ingham’s in Australia. As Ingham’s chief agribusiness officer, he led an end-to-end agribusiness operation that spanned fresh processing plants, feed mills, hatcheries and breeder farms.

“Art has come full circle back to North Carolina,” said Butterball’s Chief Operating Officer, Neal Walsh. “His mindset that people are our greatest asset, and his impressive industry knowledge will be an incredible asset to our organization. We’re glad he choose Butterball.”

Source: Butterball LLC