U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 4 Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 [_] Check box if no longer subject of Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* Sanderson Joe, Jr. F. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Last) (First) (Middle) P. O. Box 988 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Street) Laurel Mississippi 39441-0988 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (City) (State) (Zip) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol SAFM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary) 428-86-1873 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Statement for Month/Year December 18, 2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year) ================================================================================ 6. Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer (Check all applicable) [X] Director [X] 10% Owner [X] Officer (give title below) [_] Other (specify below) President & Chief Executive Officer --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check applicable line) [X] Form filed by one Reporting Person [_] Form filed by more than one Reporting Person -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================================ Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned ================================================================================ 6. 4. 5. Owner- Securities Acquired (A) or Amount of ship 3. Disposed of (D) Securities Form: 7. Transaction (Instr. 3, 4 and 5) Beneficially Direct Nature of 2. Code ------------------------------- Owned at End (D) or Indirect 1. Transaction (Instr. 8) (A) of Month Indirect Beneficial Title of Security Date ------------ Amount or Price (Instr. 3 (I) Ownership (Instr. 3) (mm/dd/yy) Code V (D) and 4) (Instr.4) (Instr. 4) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Common Stock, par value $1.00 per share 2,399,672 I (1) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Common Stock, par value 12/18/02 G 3,167 D $20.00 Owner of $1.00 per share 12/19/02 G 3,000 D $20.23 147,555 D Record ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Common Stock, par value $1.00 per share 49,083 I (2) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Common Stock, par value $1.00 per share 6,539 I By Spouse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Common Stock, par value $1.00 per share 150,604 I (3) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (1) As co-executor of the Estate of Joe Frank Sanderson. Joe Sanderson, Jr. was appointed and qualified as a co-executor of the Estate of Joe Frank Sanderson on 1/21/98. (2) Allocated to the account of Joe F. Sanderson, Jr. in the Company's ESOP. (3) By private charitable foundation of which Joe F. Sanderson, Jr. is a director. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ==================================================================================================================================== * ____ If the Form is filed by more than one Reporting Person, see Instruction 4(b)(v). Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. (Print or Type Responses) (Over) (Form 4-07/99) FORM 4 (continued) Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) ================================================================================ 10. 9. Owner- Number ship of Form 2. Deriv- of Conver- 5. 7. ative Deriv- 11. sion Number of Title and Amount Secur- ative Nature or Derivative 6. of Underlying 8. ities Secur- of Exer- 4. Securities Date Securities Price Bene- ity: In- cise 3. Trans- Acquired (A) Exercisable and (Instr. 3 and 4) of ficially Direct direct Price Trans- action or Disposed Expiration Date ---------------- Deriv- Owned (D) or Bene- 1. of action Code of(D) (Month/Day/Year) Amount ative at End In- ficial Title of Deriv- Date (Instr. (Instr. 3, ---------------- or Secur- of direct Owner- Derivative ative (Month/ 8) 4 and 5) Date Expira- Number ity Month (I) ship Security Secur- Day/ ------ ------------ Exer- tion of (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. 3) ity Year) Code V (A) (D) cisable Date Title Shares 5) 4) 4) 4) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Incentive Stock Common Options $15.00 7/24/98 7/24/07 Stock 60,000 60,000 D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Incentive Stock Common Options $13.00 4/23/99 4/23/08 Stock 60,000 60,000 D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phantom Stock Common Options $ 7.46875 4/22/01 4/21/10 Stock 75,000 75,000 D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Incentive Stock Common Options $17.08 10/24/03 10/23/12 Stock 105,386 105,386 D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ==================================================================================================================================== Explanation of Responses: Exercisable for a 10-year period, with vesting beginning on the date indicated, which is one year after the date of grant. Vesting continues thereafter at 25% per year on each anniversary date until fully vested. /s/Joe F. Sanderson, Jr. December 20, 2002 -------------------------------------------- ----------------------- **Signature of Reporting Person Date ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.