Property, Plant And Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2011

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Property, plant and equipment (“PP&E”), net consisted of the following:



	December 25, 2011			December 26, 2010
	(In thousands)
Land	$	65,413		$	81,212
Buildings	1,077,789			1,091,004
Machinery and equipment	1,492,251			1,414,718
Autos and trucks	58,518			57,441
Construction-in-progress	36,094			96,442
Property, plant and equipment, gross	2,730,065			2,740,817
Accumulated depreciation	(1,488,313		)	(1,382,681		)
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	1,241,752		$	1,358,136

The Company recognized depreciation expense of $192.6 million, $209.4 million, $52.4 million and $217.9 million during 2011, 2010, the Transition Period and 2009, respectively.

During 2011, the Company sold certain property, plant and equipment for cash of $29.0 million and recognized a gain of $4.3 million. PP&E sold in 2011 included a processing plant in North Carolina, a rendering plant in Georgia, an egg production facility in Texas, a feed mill in Georgia, a hatchery in Alabama, various broiler, breeder and pullet farms in Texas, an empty office building in West Virginia, rental properties in Texas, developed and undeveloped real estate in Texas and miscellaneous processing equipment.

The Company has temporarily idled (i) processing facilities in Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas and Texas, (ii) hatcheries in Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Arkansas and North Carolina, (iii) various broiler farms in Texas, (iv) a feed mill in North Carolina and (v) a vehicle maintenance center in Texas. The Company continues to depreciate these assets. At December 25, 2011, the carrying amount of these idled assets was $67.7 million based on depreciable value of $168.9 million and accumulated depreciation of $101.2 million. We reopened an idled processing plant in Douglas, Georgia in January 2011. The Company will evaluate the decision to bring the Douglas, Georgia facility to full capacity during 2012.

The Company has closed and is actively marketing for sale (i) processing plants in Georgia, Louisiana and Pennsylvania (ii) administrative offices in Texas and Georgia, (iii) a distribution center in Louisiana, (iv) various breeder and broiler farms in Texas and Georgia, (v) hatcheries in Alabama and Georgia, (vi) a warehouse in Texas and (vii) a commercial egg facility in Texas. At December 25, 2011, the Company reported assets held for sale totaling $53.8 million in Assets held for sale on its Consolidated Balance Sheets. In 2011, the Company recognized charges totaling $2.8 million in cost of goods sold and administrative restructuring charges totaling $20.1 million to impair the carrying amounts of certain assets held for sale located in Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, and Louisiana to fair value.

The Company tested the recoverability of its long-lived assets held for use during the thirteen weeks ended December 25, 2011 by comparing the book value of its invested capital, exclusive of assets held for sale, with the undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use and eventual disposition of its long-lived assets held for use. The Company determined that the carrying amount of its long-lived assets held for use is recoverable over the remaining life of the primary asset in the group, and the long-lived assets for use pass the Step 1 recoverability test of ASC 360-10-35, Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software. This disclosure may include property plant and equipment accounting policies and methodology, a schedule of property, plant and equipment gross, additions, deletions, transfers and other changes, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, net, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and useful lives, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

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