PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

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

	March 29, 2020		December 29, 2019
	(In thousands)
Land	$	240,336	$	222,076
Buildings	1,887,082		1,754,219
Machinery and equipment	3,030,430		3,139,748
Autos and trucks	69,607		64,122
Finance leases	2,182		2,182
Construction-in-progress	199,149		229,015
PP&E, gross	5,428,786		5,411,362
Accumulated depreciation	(2,865,992)		(2,819,301)
PP&E, net	$	2,562,794	$	2,592,061

The Company recognized depreciation expense of $74.5 million and $61.5 million during the three months ended March 29, 2020 and March 31, 2019, respectively.

        During the three months ended March 29, 2020, Pilgrim's spent $77.2 million on capital projects and transferred $87.2 million of completed projects from construction-in-progress to depreciable assets. Capital expenditures were primarily incurred during the three months ended March 29, 2020 to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. During the three months ended ended March 31, 2019, the Company spent $87.9 million on capital projects and transferred $56.1 million of completed projects from construction-in-progress to depreciable assets.

        During the three months ended March 29, 2020, the Company sold miscellaneous equipment for $0.6 million in cash and recognized a net gain on these sales of $0.5 million. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Company sold miscellaneous equipment for cash of $0.5 million and recognized a net gain on these sales of $0.1 million.

        The Company has closed or idled various facilities in the U.S. and in the U.K. Neither the Board of Directors nor JBS has determined if it would be in the best interest of the Company to divest any of these idled assets. Management is therefore not certain that it can or will divest any of these assets within one year, is not actively marketing these assets and, accordingly, has not classified them as assets held for sale. The Company continues to depreciate these assets. As of March 29, 2020, the carrying amounts of these idled assets totaled $42.0 million based on depreciable value of $221.1 million and accumulated depreciation of $179.1 million.

        As of March 29, 2020, the Company assessed if events or changes in circumstances indicated that the aggregate carrying amount of its property, plant and equipment held for use might not be recoverable. There were no indicators present that required the Company to test the recoverability of the aggregate carrying amount of its property, plant and equipment held for use at that date.