PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

6 Months Ended

Jun. 24, 2012

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, Plant and Equipment Disclosure [Text Block]

8. PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

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

	June 24, 2012			December 25, 2011
	(In thousands)
Land	$	64,030		$	65,413
Buildings		1,080,037			1,077,789
Machinery and equipment		1,492,689			1,492,251
Autos and trucks		58,248			58,518
Construction-in-progress		41,495			36,094
PP&E, gross		2,736,499			2,730,065
Accumulated depreciation		(1,526,703	)		(1,488,313	)
PP&E, net	$	1,209,796		$	1,241,752

     The Company recognized depreciation expense of $32.3million and $48.2million during the thirteen weeks ended June24,2012and June26,2011, respectively. We also recognized depreciation expense of $64.2million and $95.1million during the twenty-six weeks ended June24,2012and June26,2011, respectively. 

     During the thirteen and twenty-six weeks ended June24,2012, the Company sold certain PP&E for cash of $9.4million and $12.5million, respectively, and recognized net gains on these sales of $0.3million and net losses of $0.6million, respectively. PP&E sold in2012included a vacant office building in Texas, an idled processing plant in Georgia, idled hatcheries in Alabama and Georgia, an idled distribution center in Louisiana, various broiler and breeder farms in Texas, both developed and undeveloped land in Texas and miscellaneous processing equipment. During the thirteen and twenty-six weeks ended June26,2011, the Company sold certain PP&E for cash of $0.5million and $4.9million, respectively, and recognized net losses of $0.8million and net gains of $0.3million, respectively, on these sales. PP&E sold in2011included an idled feed mill in Georgia, various broiler and breeder farms in Texas, undeveloped land in Texas and miscellaneous processing equipment.

     Management has committed to the sale of certain properties and related assets, including, but not limited to, processing plants, office buildings and farms, which no longer fit into the operating plans of the Company. The Company is actively marketing these properties and related assets for immediate sale and believes a sale of each property can be consummated within the next 12months. At June 24, 2012and December 25, 2011, the Company reported properties and related assets totaling $44.7million and $53.8million, respectively, in Assets held for sale on its Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. For the twenty-six weeks ended June24,2012, the Company recognized impairment expense of $1.3 million on certain of these assets. The Company did not recognize any impairment expense for the thirteen weeks ended June24,2012.

     On July17,2012, the Company reached an agreement to sell its commercial egg operations, which have been classified as held for sale since December2011, to Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. The Company expects to close the transaction in August2012.

     As part of the exit or disposal activities discussed in “Note2. Exit or Disposal Activities,” the Company closed or idled various processing complexes, processing plants, hatcheries and broiler farms throughout the U.S. Neither the Board of Directors nor JBS USA. 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. At June24,2012, the carrying amount of these idled assets was $61.0million based on depreciable value of $151.5million and accumulated depreciation of $90.5million.

     The Company last tested the recoverability of its long-lived assets held and used in December 2011. At that time, the Company determined that the carrying amount of its long-lived assets held and used was recoverable over the remaining life of the primary asset in the group and that long-lived assets held and used passed the Step 1recoverability test under ASC 360-10-35, Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets. There were no indicators present during the twenty-six weeks ended June24,2012 that required the Company to test its long-lived assets held and used for recoverability.